PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brian Boyle, Danton Heinen and Zach Aston-Reese scored to take some of the pressure off Sidney Crosby, Tristan Jarry stopped 41 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Sunday.
Crosby scored an empty-netter to reach the 20-goal plateau for the 14th time as the Penguins beat the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes for the first time in three tries, thanks in part to the secondary scoring that's been lacking in recent weeks.
Pittsburgh general manager Ron Hextall urged his role players to get to the front of the net in an effort to shake out of the doldrums. Boyle and Heinen responded by scoring from a combined 6 feet from the net while Aston-Reese's tap-in empty-netter with 12 seconds left sealed it.
Brett Pesce scored his fifth of the season and Sebastian Aho added his 27th, but Carolina lost in regulation for just the second time in its last 12 games (9-2-1). Antti Raantta finished with 19 saves but had no real chance at stopping either of the two he let in.
The teams went two years without facing each other due to the COVID-19 pandemic before meeting three times in the span of three weeks, each of them with a postseason feel. The previous two games were one-goal wins for Carolina, the second in overtime.
The Penguins are trying to figure out if they need to trade for another winger with a scoring touch, something lacking recently outside the top line of Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust.
That may be turning around.
The 6-foot-6 Boyle somehow snuck in front of the Carolina crease undetected late in the first period, took a feed from behind the net by Teddy Blueger and powered a one-timer by Antti Raanta to give Pittsburgh the lead. It was his seventh goal of the season and first in a month.
Heinen picked up his second goal in four games 11:14 into the second by skating in front and redirecting Mike Matheson’s point shot. That was all the support Jarry would need. The All-Star made a handful of stellar stops, including denying Aho from the slot while protecting a two-goal lead.
Pesce's shot from high in the slot made it tight and set off a frenzied third period in which the Hurricanes titled the ice heavily in Pittsburgh's end for long stretches. Jarry stood his ground and relaxed when Crosby's empty-net goal with 1:39 left made it 3-1.
Maybe Jarry and the Penguins relaxed a bit too much. Aho scored 14 seconds later to make it 3-2 before Aston-Reese chased down a loose puck and dropped it into the empty net for his second goal of the season.
NOTES: The Penguins played without D Marcus Pettersson, who was scratched just minutes before the opening face-off. ... Pittsburgh F Kasperi Kapanen skated 10:40 in his 300th NHL game. Kapanen was a healthy scratch on Friday night. ... Neither team scored on the power play. The Hurricanes were 0-1; the Penguins were 0-3.
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Visit Toronto on Thursday.
Penguins: Begin a three-game trip on Tuesday at Nashville.
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