Panthers net 3 goals in final 2:29, shock Penguins

Posted: Sun October 5, 1997 at 1:03 AM ET

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- After a long night, the Florida Panthers made short work of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Trailing for a good part of the game, the Panthers scored three goals in the last 2:29 to beat Pittsburgh 5-3 Saturday night for their first victory of the season.

Dave Gagner had three goals and Bill Lindsay scored the tiebreaking goal with 18 seconds left in the third period.

"It was a strange one," Panthers coach Doug MacLean said. "We had a lot of trouble in our own end in the third. Time and time again we had our right defenseman playing on the wrong side."

The game really fell apart for Pittsburgh on a few plays and an error in judgment by goaltender Ken Wregget, who made his first appearance of the season for the Penguins.

"I could have played better than I did," Wregget said.

Gagner tied the score at 17:31 at 3-3 when he grabbed a puck behind the net and whacked at it. The puck went in off defenseman Kevin Hatcher's skate.

The play started when Wregget made a fundmental mistake. Wregget had the puck in his glove but chose to keep it alive rather than hold on for a faceoff.

"I made a bad decision," Wregget said. "I should have frozen it."

Lindsay was denied on a wraparound attempt but he was in position to tap in Paul Laus' pass from the left-wing boards for the go-ahead goal.

Gagner completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal.

"Dave Gagner and Kirk Muller battled from the opening faceoff tonight," MacLean said.

Florida goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck registered his 289th career win and tied Ed Giacomin for 16th place on the career list.

Chris Ferraro gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 1:11 of the second period when he jumped on Gord Murphy's clearing attempt and beat Vanbiesbrouck.

Jody Hull tied it with a shorthanded goal at 3:48. He knocked Penguins defenseman Fredrik Olausson off the puck along the boards, then skated to the net and tapped in Kirk Muller's centering pass.

Jaromir Jagr gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead when he scored his first goal on a power play at 6:22. The Panthers tied the score during a four-minute Pittsburgh power play at 7:44 when Gagner fired a shot past Wregget's glove from the top of the left circle.