Canes rally late for 3-2 win over Pittsburgh

In Raleigh, Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal scored in the third period to overcome a 2-1 deficit to the Pittsburgh Penguins and send the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon.

“I thought in the third period we took control of the puck and started to play our style and created some offensive chances,” said Staal, who also had an assist. “The more you do that, the better your odds of winning.”

The Canes pushed their current point streak to 11 games.

“We kind of survived that first 10 minutes. That had every reason in the book to look like that the whole game,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We managed to right the ship and kind of get in a good flow. I’m proud of the group. They’re tired for sure, mentally.”

Pyotr Kochetkov, who made 23 saves in the Carolina win.

“Every start he’s been solid,” Brind’Amour said “He kept us in there and made big save after big save. It’s not like there’s 100 shots coming at him, but there’s big ones at key times that [would] totally change the game if they go in.”

The Hurricanes improved to 19-6-6.

Derek Stepan gave the Canes a 1-0 lead in the middle frame after a scoreless first period.

The Pens had their seven-game win streak ended in the loss.

“This team is hard to play against,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re committed to playing the game a certain way. They’ve got a good team. That’s just how the game played out.”

Pittsburgh dropped to 18-9-4.

Rickard Rakell tied the game, 1-1, at 12:20 of the second.

“We definitely had the chances to come out on top in this game, but we knew that it was going to take good defensive play to get the two points,” Rakell said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do that well enough.”

Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Brock McGinn at 5:03 of the third.

“That’s a really good play,” McGinn said. “He’s so highly skilled. I think he draws players to him. I was just able to get open and he made a great play to me.”