Penguins 3, Panthers 1: Nick Spaling scored one goal and set up another while Marc-Andre Fleury made a season-high 45 saves to lift host Pittsburgh to its third consecutive victory.

Defenseman Derrick Pouliot scored in his NHL debut and captain Sidney Crosby ended an eight-game goalless drought in the opener of a home-and-home series against Florida. Steve Downie collected a pair of assists and Fleury improved to 6-0-1 in his last seven starts.

Vincent Trocheck - who grew up just outside of Pittsburgh - scored the lone goal for the Panthers, who absorbed only their third regulation defeat in 12 games (7-3-2). Roberto Luongo turned aside 31 shots in falling to 6-2-1 in his last nine for Florida, which hosts the Penguins on Monday.

Spaling deflected Downie's shot past Luongo less than two minutes into the contest and Pouliot doubled the lead five minutes later. The rookie defenseman skated in and buried a circle-to-circle pass from Downie for his first career tally.

Trocheck halted the Panthers' 0-for-14 slump on the power play by tipping in Jonathan Huberdeau's shot 35 seconds later to cut the deficit in half. It stayed that way until the seven-minute mark of the third, when Crosby - in his second game back after missing three with the mumps - steered defenseman Kris Letang's feed home from the left side of the net.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Downie recorded his third two-point performance in the last six games and also amassed 17 minutes in penalties. ... Panthers D Aaron Ekblad collected his 14th assist on Trocheck's tally, setting a franchise rookie record for a blue-liner. ... Penguins F Craig Adams (undisclosed) sat out the contest, ending his franchise-record streak of 319 consecutive games. He was joined on the shelf by Ds Christian Ehrhoff and Paul Martin, who both were placed on injured reserve, although LW Chris Kunitz returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a fractured foot.