Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates a goal on Florida Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov (40) as defenseman Connor Clifton (75), center Eetu Luostarinen (27) and defenseman Seth Jones (3) skate nearby during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Philip G. Pavely)

PITTSBURGH — Rickard Rakell scored twice, Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Sunday.

The teams faced off Saturday night and the Penguins beat them 9-4, eliminating the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions from playoff contention.

“We felt the energy here this weekend,” Crosby said. “We had two big ones here to finish off the week. You can tell that there’s a lot of energy in the building. We fed off of that at different points. We got some goals and we got them in bunches. You can tell that’s a big factor.”

Rakell scored his first goal for the Penguins with 48 seconds left in the first period on the power play, assisted on by Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. His second came with 1:52 left in the second period.

“I feel like at the start of the year, I had a lot of opportunities that didn’t go in,” Rakell said. “I’ve learned that’s how it goes sometimes, but I’m happy with how it’s going right now.”

Bryan Rust and Elmer Soderblom also scored for the Penguins. Carter Verhaeghe and Cole Schwindt each scored for the Panthers.

Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 29 shots after tandem mate Stuart Skinner was ruled out with an upper-body injury.

“I thought the timing of some of (Silovs’) saves were really important,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “You never know when these types of situations are going to come up when something unexpected happens, and now you’re playing a back-to-back.”

Daniil Tarasov allowed five goals on 23 shots in defeat.

Saturday’s game

Malkin had his 14th career hat trick and added an assist to become the 23rd player in NHL history to reach 1,400 career points, and the Penguins routed the Florida Panthers 9-4 on Saturday.

The Panthers began the season hoping to become the first team since the New York Islanders of the early 1980s to win three straight championships. It never came close to happening as injuries and shaky play in net sent them tumbling to the bottom of the standings early in the season, a hole from which they never fully recovered.

While Florida will miss the playoffs for the first time in four years, Pittsburgh is inching toward a return to the postseason after three straight absences.

The Penguins strengthened their hold on second in the Metropolitan Division by blitzing the Panthers during the first half of the second period, pouring in four goals in less than 10 minutes.

Anthony Mantha broke a 2-2 tie with his 31st goal of the season just 1:51 into the second. Malkin then beat Sergei Bobrovsky twice in less than three minutes to create more than enough breathing room.

Erik Karlsson had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. Noel Acciari and Soderblom added a goal and an assist. Crosby picked up a pair of assists to move past Hall of Famer and childhood idol Steve Yzerman and into seventh place on the NHL’s career scoring list (1,756).

Silovs stopped 19 shots for the Penguins and had little work to do after Pittsburgh chased Bobrovsky following Soderblom’s third goal in 15 games since being acquired in a trade with Detroit.

Up next

Penguins: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.