PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby, playing for the first time this season, scored his first goal and created a ripple effect all through the Pittsburgh Penguins' four lines.

Carl Hagelin, first goal of the season. Eric Fehr, first goal. Tom Kuhnhackl, first assist.

Crosby, back after missing six games with a concussion, started Pittsburgh's comeback by scoring in the second period, and Hagelin and Fehr completed it with goals in the third as the Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Tuesday night.

"We stayed in it -- and had a big second half there," Crosby said. "I thought our speed was a lot more obvious."

Crosby, like the Penguins' offense, looked a bit rusty early on as the Panthers opened a 2-0 lead on goals by Reilly Smith and Mark Pysyk, but Pittsburgh came back from a two-goal deficit for the second straight home game. It beat San Jose 3-2 with a similar rally Thursday.

The Stanley Cup champion Penguins looked a step slow and a bit off their game in the first two periods, despite Crosby's power-play goal, but they forced a much faster tempo while dominating the third period.

"I like what I saw in the third period. We started to get to our game consistently. ... We were playing the game the right way," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.

The Penguins were playing with their captain again, and it made a difference.

"We were able to roll four lines and when you play everybody, you have more energy every shift," Fehr said. "When you have that kind of energy, you can make better plays."

Hagelin tied it at 5:36 of the third, pulling up in the right circle and beating Panthers backup goalie James Reimer with a shot off the goalie's blocker.

"They had odd-man rushes, and when you have good players and you give them opportunities, they're bound to score," Florida defenseman Keith Yandle said.

Fehr then won it just over four minutes later following a Penguins faceoff win in the defensive zone. Kuhnhackl skated the puck up the left-wing boards, outmuscling two defenders, before finding Fehr for a short-distance wrist shot.

"When I saw the second defender go towards him, I knew the puck was going to be going toward the direction of the net and I tried to be ready for it," Fehr said. "It was an unbelievable pass."

Kuhnhackl , who normally isn't a playmaker on an up-ice rush, said, "Obviously it was a tough play, two guys (on him), but I'm glad I found him."

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves as Pittsburgh improved to 4-0-1 at the newly named PPG Paints Arena. Reimer, making his second start, turned aside 19 shots.

The Panthers scored the game's first two goals, and coach Gerard Gallant said, "I thought we played a great game, but we made three or four mistakes in the third and it cost us. ... They're a powerful team, they're a great team."

Crosby pulled one back in the second period only nine seconds into a power play generated by a high-sticking call on Florida's Greg McKegg. Evgeni Malkin's pass from the left circle hit Crosby in stride down the middle for a high wrist shot past Reimer. The goal was Crosby's first since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against Tampa Bay.

"I thought he didn't miss a beat," Sullivan said. "He was winning faceoffs, he was battling down low, he scores a big goal for us. I think Sid's going to be fine."

Crosby felt fine physically but said he felt the effects of having practiced only once in a couple of weeks.

"Timing and execution, I think I need to work on that a little bit," Crosby said. "It's been tough to get any practices, so I kind of expect that. ... It's going to be a little bit of a process (for a while), but hopefully it can generate some things."

It already has, or at least it did after the first period.

With the Panthers on a power play, Colton Sceviour's shot from the left point deflected off Michael Matheson's stick to Smith in front for a backhander that eluded Fleury, who made his seventh straight start, with 1:58 left in the first period.

Florida made it 2-0 at 6:08 of the second, and mere seconds after Penguins defenseman Ian Cole leveled 44-year-old Panthers right winger Jaromir Jagr, the longtime Penguins star, with a shoulder hit at mid-ice. Shane Harper pulled up in the right circle and fed Pysyk as he skated down the slot for his first of the season.

Jagr, given a commemorative plaque during the morning skate by the Penguins as they celebrate their 50-year anniversary, didn't score for a fourth consecutive game against his former team. Twenty-six years to the night, a then-rookie Jagr also went scoreless for Pittsburgh against the Quebec Nordiques.

Pysyk's goal was the seventh in a row against the Penguins, who took a 1-0 lead Saturday in Nashville, only to allow the final five goals in a 5-1 loss.

NOTES: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last season, made his season debut after sitting out six games with a concussion. He centered a line with LW Scott Wilson and RW Patric Hornqvist. ... Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr received a plaque -- fashioned out of a piece of the now-demolished Civic Arena's stainless steel roof -- from the Penguins following the morning skate. Jagr hasn't played for Pittsburgh in 15 years, but remains the second-leading scorer in team history. ... Penguins F Conor Sheary (eye) will remain out at least another week. ... Penguins D Kris Letang (upper-body injury) sat out a third consecutive game. ... Panthers G James Reimer made his second start of the season. F Jussi Jokinen (lower body) didn't make the trip to Pittsburgh. ... The Panthers scratched LW Steven Thornton and D Steven Kampfer. Pittsburgh held out LW Tom Sestito and G Mike Condon.