Penguins shut out Panthers to snap four-game skid

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 4-0 Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena, snapping a four-game losing streak. The win pushed Pittsburgh's record to 4-6-1. Read more: Penguins shut out Panthers to snap four-game skid 

The Penguins had allowed at least five goals in each of those four losses, including a 5-4 defeat at Utah on Monday that capped a winless four-game road trip. Pittsburgh was outscored 21-11 over that span before Thursday's shutout.

Nick Robertson opened the scoring with 4:41 left in the first period. He forced a turnover near his own blue line, joined the rush, and beat goaltender Cooper Black with a wrist shot. Connor Dewar had the primary assist and Kris Letang the secondary.

Hendrix Lapierre made it 2-0 with 10:01 left in the second period, scoring off a three-on-two rush set up by Evgeni Malkin and Ville Koivunen. Malkin made it 3-0 1:40 into the third period, beating Black with a wrist shot for his sixth goal of the season. Lapierre and Spencer Stastney assisted.

Robertson added an empty-net goal with 2:26 remaining for his second of the night, giving him six goals this season. Lapierre and Malkin each finished with a goal and an assist.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson played a game-high 24:09 but was held off the scoresheet, ending a five-game point streak.

Silovs stops every shot

Arturs Silovs stopped all 26 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season, holding a Florida team that outshot Pittsburgh 26-21 and out-hit the Penguins 32-10. He also held firm through a six-on-four Florida power play in the third period.

Florida goaltender Cooper Black made his NHL debut and stopped 17 of 20 shots in the loss. Pittsburgh served eight penalty minutes to Florida's six but killed every power play it faced, holding the Panthers 0-for-4 with the man advantage. The Penguins also won 54.8 percent of their faceoffs.

Related: Penguins have overcome slow starts before

Silovs said after the game that the Penguins won the small battles and loose pucks that had been costing them. Dan Muse, Pittsburgh's coach, called it one of the team's most consistent games of the season.

Kindel placed on injured reserve

Pittsburgh played the game without three regulars: Bryan Rust and Egor Chinakhov were both out. Forward Ben Kindel was placed on injured reserve Thursday with vasovagal syncope after briefly losing consciousness aboard the team's charter flight Tuesday. General manager Kyle Dubas said Kindel could be back on the ice for practice as early as next week, pending further testing.

Florida, which lost 5-1 at Ottawa the night before, has now dropped back-to-back games for the third time this season. Pittsburgh continues its three-game homestand Saturday against Nashville at 7 p.m., with Utah visiting PPG Paints Arena next week to close it out.