Sidney Crosby scores twice as Penguins beat Panthers, extend winning streak to 4
Dan Muse is in his first year as a head coach in the NHL. But he’s experienced enough to understand success in October isn’t cause to celebrate.
“It’s so early, I don’t think for anybody you’re feeling like it’s a finished product this time of year,” the Pittsburgh Penguins coach said in Cranberry on Wednesday. “There’s been times that it’s there, but it’s an ongoing work in progress that we want to just continue to build out.”
On Thursday, the Penguins added another building block to what they want to be with a 5-3 victory against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The result extended a winning streak to four games.
By defeating the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Penguins boosted their record to 6-2-0 a little more than two weeks into the 2025-26 campaign.
A pair of goals by forward Sidney Crosby sparked the Penguins, while goaltender Tristan Jarry made 34 saves on 37 shots and improved his record to 3-1-0.
“When we play to our structure and we play to the game that we know we can, I think we’re a hard team to play against,” Jarry said to reporters in Sunrise via audio provided by the Penguins’ media relations department. “Just making sure that we’re doing that night in, night out, that’s going to be the challenge.”
Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones did not record a shift beyond the 13:12 mark of the third period. There was no substantive word on his status following the game.
Crosby opened the scoring 6:24 into regulation with his fifth goal of the season during a power-play sequence.
Digging a puck off Florida’s end boards following a goalmouth scramble, Penguins forward Bryan Rust fed a pass to the left faceoff dot where Crosby leaned down on his left knee and dropped the hammer on a one-timer that beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who was scrambling to get into position. Rust and forward Evgeni Malkin had assists.
Sidney Crosby = Automatic ???? pic.twitter.com/k1wJnPmKF3
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) October 23, 2025
The visitors went up 2-0 via forward Rickard Rakell’s third goal at 6:36 of the second period.
Accepting a pass at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson considered his options for a moment before lobbing a wrister at the net. Bobrovsky made the initial save despite traffic but volunteered a rebound to the left of the crease. Rakell fended off Panthers forward Anton Lundell and backhanded the puck behind a swimming Bobrovsky. Karlsson and Crosby collected assists.
Rickard Rakell doubles the lead with his third goal of the season ???? pic.twitter.com/JK4Cn5AZ9i
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) October 24, 2025
Panthers forward Brad Marchand scored his fourth goal during a power-play scenario only 1:50 later.
Taking a pass on the left half wall of the offensive zone, Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich sauntered a bit into the near circle, then snapped a forehand pass to the far side of the crease. Largely undetected by Penguins defenders, Marchand easily redirected the puck by Jarry’s left skate. Samoskevich and defenseman Seth Jones generated assists.
Brad Marchand réduit l'écart en avantage numérique ???? pic.twitter.com/OAuIPnZETU
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) October 24, 2025
Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel’s second goal – of the season and his career - came at 15:24 of the second frame.
Off a give-and-go sequence, Penguins forward Tommy Novak took the puck in the Panthers’ right circle and then fed it back to Kindel in the opposite circle. With a clean look at the net, Kindel whacked a one-timer by Bobrovsky’s blocker on the near side. The lone assist went to Novak.
What a one-timer by Kindel ???? pic.twitter.com/xIbHmAoIaF
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 24, 2025
The Panthers persisted as forward Sam Reinhart recorded his third goal during a power-play sequence 2:24 into the third period.
From above the Penguins’ left circle, Samoskevich slipped a pass to Reinhard low in the circle. As Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea opted to block a passing lane and yielded the shot, Reinhart accepted that charity and lifted a wrister to the near side that clunked off Jarry’s blocker and caromed into the cage. Samoskevich and Seth Jones had assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 24, 2025
Penguins forward Connor Dewar’s fourth goal put the visitors up 4-2 at 4:49 of the third.
Controlling the puck in his own zone, Karlsson allowed linemates to make a change, then advanced to the defensive blue line before lobbing a pass to the offensive blue line. Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola tried to bat the puck down with his left hand but wound up directing it right to Dewar’s stick in the right circle. Cutting inside Seth Jones, Dewar shuffled a forehand shot by Bobrovsky’s right skate. Karlsson claimed the lone assist.
Make that 4️⃣ goals for the Pens tonight
???????????????? pic.twitter.com/sGXexI60IG
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) October 24, 2025
Marchand struck again at 11:06 of the third frame.
Off strong work in the Penguins’ left corner by Lundell, linemate Eetu Luostarinen flicked a forehand pass from the end boards to the left circle for Marchand. With Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin late on the backcheck, Marchand deked past Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton, then tucked a backhander past a scrambling Jarry. Luostarinen and Lundell logged assists.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 24, 2025
Only 43 seconds later, Crosby matched his fellow Nova Scotian with his second goal of the contest during a power-play opportunity.
Via some precision passing in the offensive zone, Rakell accepted the puck to the left of the cage, then one-touched a forehand pass to the lower right circle for Crosby, who chopped in an easy forehand shot by the glove of a beleaguered Bobrovsky. Rakell and Malkin had assists.
2 goals. 3 points.
THE CAPTAIN pic.twitter.com/qu5WJxSiB3
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) October 24, 2025
“We got some timely goals when they scored,” Crosby said. “We were able to bounce back.”
Notes:
• Since joining the Penguins via trade on March 7, Dewar has the fourth-most goals on the team:
• Rakell (188 points) surpassed forward Bryan Hextall (186) for 45th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
(Hextall’s son, Ron Hextall, was the general manager who added Rakell to the Penguins’ roster via a trade with the Ducks on Feb. 21, 2022.)
• Karlsson led the Penguins with 2:18 of short-handed ice time. During Tuesday’s 5-1 home win against the Vancouver Canucks, Karlsson logged 3:15 short-handed ice time.
Over those two games, he totaled 5:33 of short-handed ice time. In contrast, in his first six games of the season, he accumulated only 2:11 of short-handed ice time.
• Karlsson (114 points) surpassed defenseman Justin Schultz (113) for 79th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• Penguins defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Matt Dumba as well as forward Philip Tomasino were scratched.
• Previously, the Penguins scratched Brunicke, a 19-year-old rookie, for a 4-3 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 14. That decision was labeled as being part of a “development plan” for Brunicke.
• The Penguins’ high-water mark for winning streaks last season was a pair of four-game sequences, the most recent happening March 9-15. Their last five-game winning streak happened from Nov. 4-14, 2023.
• Panthers forward Sam Bennett appeared in his 700th career game.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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