Dvorak’s hat trick gives Panthers 6-2 win, sends Penguins to 5th straight loss

Dvorak’s hat trick sends Pens to 5th straight loss

SUNRISE, Fla. — Radek Dvorak scored three goals for his third NHL hat trick, and Tomas Vokoun stopped 46 shots as the Florida Panthers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Sunday night, sending the Stanley Cup champions to their season-high, fifth straight loss.

Rostislav Olesz, Jordan Leopold and Steven Reinprecht also scored for the Panthers, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit and snapped a three-game losing streak. Nathan Horton, Michael Frolik and Gregory Campbell each had two assists.

Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy scored first-period goals, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for Pittsburgh, which has lost six of seven.

Dvorak and Olesz scored 62 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead.

Dvorak scored at 17:35 after Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin lost the puck on Gregory Campbell’s stick check deep in the Penguins zone. Olesz, standing in front, then knocked down Bryan Allen’s slap shot and quickly put the puck past Fleury with 1:23 left in the period.

Crosby and Kennedy scored to help Pittsburgh take a 2-1 lead after one period.

Crosby picked up a loose puck in the Panthers’ zone and, from the right circle, fired a wrist shot past Vokoun. Crosby’s 24th goal — his second in eight games — gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead at 10:39.

Kennedy’s seventh came after he poked the puck off the side boards, picked it up in the neutral zone and skated in on Vokoun’s left side. Kennedy fired a shot that was slowed by Vokoun, but the puck trickled in at 5:49.

Florida got within 2-1 when Leopold scored his sixth goal at 18:57.

NOTES: Vokoun is 2-4-4 against Pittsburgh. … The Penguins hadn’t dropped five in a row since Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 5, 2009. … Pittsburgh was 0 for 4 on the power play and is 2 for 36 in the last eight road games. … The Panthers avoided their second four-game skid of the season.