Penrith rookie Stephen Crichton was the hero for the second week in a row, after sparking the Panthers to a high-scoring 32-28 win over St George Illawarra.
In front of an empty Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, Crichton was again injected off the bench at fullback, midway through the second half on Friday night.
And as he did seven days ago against the Sydney Roosters, the 19-year-old came up with the game-turning play in the 71st minute.
He cut through the Dragons defence off a Nathan Cleary pass, found support in Liam Martin, before backing him up again to finish off the 70-metre movement.
Cleary, who scored a try and had a hand in two others, sealed the victory with a penalty goal in the dying moments.
The loss was deflating for the Dragons, who appeared to had sewn up the win, when Corey Norman try gave the hosts a 10-point lead with 16 minutes to go.
But a Viliame Kikau four-pointer gave the visitors some hope, which turned into elation, when Crichton provided his heroics.
Penrith had seemingly picked up from where they left after last week's upset of the reigning premiers, racing in the first two tries inside 15 minutes.
Apisai Koroisau burrowed under James Graham in the 10th minute, before Cleary breezed past some flimsy defence soon after.
Cleary's try took him past Preston Campbell (609 points) into fourth on the all-time pointscorers list at the club and the rout appeared on.
But a 21st-minute drinks break proved the turning point, with the Dragons pouring on the next three tries in a whirlwind 13-minute span.
Mat Dufty began with a 90-metre intercept try, which was followed by another long-range effort to Brayden Wiliame down the left edge.
An aimless Josh Mansour offload allowed Zac Lomax to give the Dragons a four-point halftime lead, which could've been more, if not for a Wiliame forward pass.
The second half began as an arm-wrestle, but the Panthers regained the ascendancy, when Brent Naden was rewarded for his hustle in the 52nd minute.
Dufty responded eight minutes later, when he ducked over from close range for his second try, followed by Norman's touchdown.
The official crowd was 231, with supporters locked out due to the coronavirus outbreak.
AAP
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