PITTSBURGH, March 5 (UPI) -- Alexei Kovalev scored with 1:37 remaining in overtime Tuesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a late collapse to post a 6-5 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Kovalev snapped a wrist shot from between the circles and beat Roberto Luongo inside the left post, giving the Penguins two points.
Pittsburgh tied Washington for 10th place in the Eastern Conference with 60 points and pulled within four of the New York Rangers, who hold the final playoff spot.
Ivan Novoseltsev scored with 7:46 left in regulation as the Panthers erased a three-goal third-period deficit.
To add to the frustration for Pittsburgh, Jan Hrdina had two apparent goals nullified in the third period. He appeared to give Pittsburgh the lead with 3:15 left but the goal was erased due to a high stick. He had a goal earlier in the period wiped out for kicking the puck into the net.
The Penguins seemed to be in control after Randy Robitaille scored his second of the night following a turnover to make it 5-2 just 52 seconds into the third.
But Kristen Huselius began Florida's comeback at 8:09. Pittsburgh stilled appeared to be in good shape after killing off a two-man advantage for a full two-minutes. But the Panthers quickly regained the momentum as Valeri Bure made it a one-goal game with 8:58 left in the third and Florida tied it just over a minutes later.
Florida suffered its seventh straight loss, the last six by one goal.
