PITTSBURGH — Florida Panthers goalie Cooper Black skated onto the PPG Paints Arena ice alone during pregame warmups on Thursday night, a time-honored hockey tradition given to rookies everywhere. It took Black fewer strides to make the memorable lap than most. Call it one of the upsides of being 6-foot-9. Black made NHL history in his first career start when he became the tallest goaltender to ever appear in a regular-season game. Black is listed as two inches taller than Ben Bishop, Ivan Fedotov, Mads Sogaard and Mikko Koskinen, all 6-7. The 25-year-old from Alpena, Michigan, who started playing when he was 8 and had a 5-inch growth spurt between his junior and senior years in high school when he shot up from 6-0 to 6-5 and kept right on going, made 18 saves in a 4-0 loss. “It’s cool right, growing up, all the guys you kind of saw and watched as a kid, even as a goalie,” Black said. “Cool experience to play against the guys, would have been nicer to win.” Black, called up from Florida’s AHL affiliate in Charlotte recently after Jacob Markstrom went down with a shoulder injury, stopped Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang with his blocker pad on a wrist shot about two minutes in. He also turned aside a breakaway opportunity by Penguins forward Rickard Rakell before giving up a goal to 5-9 Pittsburgh forward Nick Robertson, who beat Black to the glove side. Panthers head coach Paul Maurice praised Black’s development in recent years. Florida signed Black as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2024. Black blossomed last season in Charlotte, posting a 25-13-4 record with a 2.47 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. “A man that size, it takes a long time to grow into that body,” Maurice said with a smile before the game, adding with a laugh, “I think he’s done.” ___ The Associated Press
