PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Cooke scored his team-leading third goal of the season and the Pittsburgh Penguins raced past the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Pascal Dupuis, James Neal and Richard Park also had goals for the Penguins, who are off to their best start in 17 seasons despite playing without captain Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Crosby remains sidelined while he recovers from concussion-like symptoms, but Pittsburgh hasn’t needed him during the season’s first week, improving to 3-0-1. Malkin missed his second straight game because of what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma called “soreness.”
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 32 shots for the Penguins, who never trailed in their home opener.
Marcel Goc and Tomas Fleischmann scored for the Panthers, who failed to start the season with consecutive victories for the first time since 2005.
