Penguins dominate Hurricanes for second consecutive win out of holiday break

PITTSBURGH — The Penguins won their first two games of December. They won their final two, as well, after taking down the Hurricanes on Tuesday.

Just don’t ask about what happened in between.

The Penguins’ 5-1 victory over Carolina at PPG Paints Arena brought their record to 17-12-9 and maintained the momentum they built out of the holiday break with a dominant win over Chicago on Sunday.

For the second consecutive game, the Penguins raced out to a massive first-period lead. They took a 3-0 advantage into the first intermission Tuesday on goals from Sidney Crosby, Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha — after they led 4-0 at the end of the first period in Chicago.

But Sunday’s early offensive explosion had a lot to do with poor goaltending from Chicago’s Spencer Knight. The Penguins' goals Tuesday came on excellent chances.

The backhand feed across the slot from Rickard Rakell to Crosby for the opening goal 3:46 into the game was sneaky and slick — a reminder of the scoring touch Pittsburgh was missing in Rakell’s lengthy injury absence.

The long-range pass from Brett Kulak to Brazeau for the game’s second goal was somehow even better. Kulak rifled a puck up the middle of the ice, allowing Brazeau to slip past multiple Hurricanes defenders. He fell as they tracked him down on the breakaway, but he got just enough on the puck while diving to the ice to beat Frederik Andersen anyway.

It was Brazeau’s fourth goal in four periods after his Sunday hat trick in Chicago. He now has a career-high 12 goals this season — and Kulak’s first point as a Penguin gave him 100 career assists.

But Brazeau was one-upped by his linemate in Mantha, who scored twice Tuesday. The big man showcased his silky touch in tight with a power-play goal near the end of the first period. He added another from close range late in the second period on a give-and-go with Brazeau to give Pittsburgh a 5-0 lead.

The Penguins largely carried play against the Metropolitan Division leaders. But when the Hurricanes challenged, Stuart Skinner had the answers. The netminder appeared far more comfortable than in his first three starts as a Penguin, in which he had a 4.18 goals-against average and .831 save percentage.

He stopped 10 shots in the first 20 minutes, including one sequence where he blocked a spinning attempt by Eric Robinson and slid across the crease to freeze the rebound attempt by Andrei Svechnikov. Skinner didn’t allow a goal for the first 38 minutes of the game — as Pittsburgh built a five-goal lead — before Carolina broke up the shutout on a rifle by Mark Jankowski.

Skinner denied Sebastian Aho on a breakaway with nine minutes to play, drawing one of the loudest of many “STUUUU!” chants on the night, and finished with 27 saves unofficially.

It was a refreshingly simple third period, as Pittsburgh played responsibly and kept the Hurricanes from cutting into the lead.

The Penguins had lost nine of 10 games before the holiday break. But they’ve looked like the red-hot Penguins of the season’s first month in the two games after Christmas.

It was over when …

Novak and Mantha scored within three minutes of each other late in the second period to give the Penguins a 5-0 lead that calmed the likely frayed nerves in the locker room had Pittsburgh carried a narrower advantage into the second intermission.

Stat of the game

— 6: The combined points for the second line of Mantha, Novak and Brazeau. They had a collective hat trick as well (Novak scored from long range to put the Penguins up 4-0 in the second period). After weeks of offensive struggles in that spot of the lineup without Evgeni Malkin, the three recent additions have meshed into a force.

Around the boards

— New trade acquisition Yegor Chinakhov was not in the lineup Tuesday. He arrived at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry as the Penguins’ optional morning skate was wrapping up. Muse said they wanted to give him a chance to get acclimated.

— Erik Karlsson returned to the ice at Tuesday’s optional skate after missing Monday’s practice with illness. He was in the lineup vs. the Hurricanes. “Rough couple of days, but that’s it,” he said Tuesday morning.

— Defenseman Ryan Graves was placed on waivers for the second time this season to make room for Chinakhov.

— Carolina goaltender Brandon Bussi leads the NHL in goals-against average (2.08) and is 13-1-1 on the season. But with the Hurricanes on the second night of a back-to-back following a home win over the Rangers on Monday, Pittsburgh got to face Andersen instead. He came in with a 5-8-2 record and 3.27 goals-against average.

— The Penguins benefited from playing a team on the second night of a back-to-back for the second straight game — Chicago had beaten Dallas on Saturday — while Pittsburgh enjoyed a night off before both games.

— The Hurricanes were 16-3-1 in their last 20 matchups with the Penguins coming into Tuesday and swept the season series a year ago.

— Erik Karlsson had two assists to bring his season total to a team-high 25. He was a +3.

Up next

The Penguins have a scheduled day off on New Year’s Eve. They will return to the ice for a morning skate on New Year’s Day before their game at 7 p.m. that night vs. the Detroit Red Wings.