Penguins 4, Hurricanes 2
James Neal collected a goal and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins dominated the third period en route to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Steve Sullivan, Pascal Dupuis and Jordan Staal scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves for the Penguins, who registered 52 shots en route to winning their fourth straight game. Pittsburgh is now two points behind the first-place New York Rangers in the Atlantic Division.
Neal knotted the contest at 1-1 at the 8:10 mark of the second period as the Hurricanes failed to clear a rebound in front of the crease. Neal slid down the slot and swatted his team-leading 21st goal into the open net with Carolina goaltender Justin Peters out of the crease.
Pittsburgh secured the lead on the power play 1:18 into the third. Sullivan, who was stationed on the left point, accepted a feed from Evgeni Malkin and one-timed his seventh goal past Peters.
Dupuis finished off a 2-on-1 break 1:10 later and Staal beat Peters on another odd-man rush, lifting the puck high over the netminder’s shoulder.
Tuomo Ruutu scored his 14th goal of the season and Peters made 48 saves for the Hurricanes, who failed to secure their first three-game winning streak since Oct. 12-18.