Crosby, Penguins dump Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 33rd goal, and Matt Murray stopped 29 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the slumping Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Tuesday night.
The Penguins (37-14-8) were outplayed for most of the first two periods before Crosby struck on a five-on-three power play, deflecting in a shot by Phil Kessel, who tied Evgeni Malkin for the team lead with his 35th assist. Kessel also leads the NHL with 26 power-play points.
The goal gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 16:21 of the middle period.
Malkin put the game away at 9:41 of the third period with his 25th. He took a centering pass from Carl Hagelin off a faceoff.
The Hurricanes (24-24-8) fell to 0-4-1 in their past five, having been outscored 19-4 during that stretch to drop out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Following a four-game winning streak over a six-day span in mid-January, Carolina is 3-9-1.
Crosby was able to strike against the league's No. 1 penalty-killing unit while parked in front of Ward with Sebastian Aho off for interference and Viktor Stalberg following the rookie to the box 1:04 later with a slashing penalty.
Murray, who improved his career record to 31-9-4 in his first 47 NHL games, kept his team in the game through 40 minutes, stopping 23 of the 24 shots thrown his way, including a remarkable blocker save against Victor Rask with 5:43 left in the second to keep the score tied 1-1. Crosby then scored two minutes later.
Pittsburgh, which improved to 25-0 when leading after two periods, blasted Carolina 7-1 a month ago at PNC Arena and wasted little time getting on the board in this one. Scott Wilson redirected a shot from Patric Hornqvist past Ward at 2:15 of the opening period.
However, Jeff Skinner registered his fifth 20-goal season in his first seven NHL seasons, tying the score at 1-1 with a power-play goal six minutes later after Malkin was called for his second consecutive penalty.
Carolina fell to 6-13-2 against the Metropolitan Division.
NOTES: The Penguins have outscored Carolina 13-4 in three meetings this season, with Pittsburgh winning all three times. ... Carolina G Cam Ward, who started for the 30th time in 32 games, finished with 19 saves. ... D Ron Hainsey played in his 300th game with the Hurricanes. ... C Jeff Skinner moved into sole possession of 10th place on the games played list for Carolina with 473, passing current team GM Ron Francis. ... Pittsburgh C Nick Bonino (illness) missed a game for the first time this season. ... Penguins LW Carl Hagelin played in his 400th NHL game. ... Pittsburgh's next game will be played outdoors at Heinz Field against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night in the Coors Light Stadium Series. ... Carolina C Jordan Staal has just one goal in 17 career games against his former team.