Yes, luck has always had a great deal to do with combat survival. Skill also counts loads, but even the best can be looking the wrong way and end up on the short end of the stick. At those ranges the 7.5cm on the Panther would have gone thru the Pershing like a hot knife thru butter, as did the Pershing's rounds on the Panther. Usually in tank combat he who shoots first wins, ergo my thoughts that in all probablity the Panther CO was looking in the wrong direction. However, I don't know the street layout there, let alone the amount of debris piled around, so it's also very possible that the Pershing appeared out of nowhere and fired first.

Since in all probability both crews are no longer with us, we will never know for sure. One can make any supposition one wants...however, we were not there.