PITTSBURGH — Cooper Black made history Thursday night when the 25-year-old took the ice as the tallest goalie in NHL history for his Florida Panthers debut, but a dormant offense left him without a win in a 4-0 shutout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Black, who ties Zdeno Chara, Curtis Douglas and Matt Rempe as the tallest players ever to appear in an NHL game, stopped the first seven shots he faced before Nick Robertson broke the ice with a goal from the slot at 15:09 of the first period, Florida Hockey Now reported. Black finished with 19 saves in the loss.
The Panthers trailed 2-0 in the third period when Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs drew a 4-minute high-sticking penalty for striking Sam Bennett. Florida failed to convert on the extended power-play opportunity, and Evgeni Malkin made it 3-0 just 1:40 into the third on a wrister. Robertson added an empty-netter at 17:34 to close out the scoring.
The shutout was the first of the season for Florida, which did not score its first goal of the year until Gus Forsling beat the Hurricanes late in overtime of the season opener. The loss also snapped Matthew Tkachuk’s nine-game scoring streak and dropped the Panthers to two consecutive losses. Pittsburgh had entered the game having lost four straight.
Florida travels to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Sunday at 3 p.m. at United Center. The Panthers hold a 22-30-4 all-time regular season record against Chicago, with three ties. The Blackhawks visit Sunrise on Nov. 4. Florida’s next road game follows Tuesday at the Winnipeg Jets at 8 p.m.