In Pittsburgh, the Penguins paid tribute thei4r former teammate, Jake Guentzel, on Tuesday, who was returning with a new team, the Caroline Hurricanes. 
The Penguins were hospitable to start, but downed the Canes, 4-1, to end their seven-game skid.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and three points in the win.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 38 saves,in the win.
“I think the biggest thing was we paid attention to the little things, the details a little bit more, a little better,” Nedeljkovic said. “They had some sustained press. They’re a good team, it’s going to happen. But it never felt like we were caught running around for three, four, five minutes at a time. It was, most of the time, one or two shifts maybe. Then that was it.”
The Penguins moved to 31-30-10.
After a scoreless first period, Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the middle frame on a marker from Jesse Puljujarvi at 2:41, scoring off a wrist shot from the right side.
“Since we’ve put him back in the lineup, I think Jesse’s played his best hockey,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “When he’s moving and he gets in on the forecheck, he uses his size and his physicality, I think he can be a real effective player. I’m sure it’s good for his confidence that he scores a couple goals.”
Dmitry Orlov was the lone striker for the Canes, his goal at 11:17 tied the game, 1-1.
“Started to get to our game a bit,” the Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal said. “And I think we put up enough shots, but it wasn’t really any Grade As and not enough net traffic, really, to create havoc and create those second opportunities. We were OK. We weren’t what we can be and the way we want to play.”
Carolina dropped to 45-21-7.
“It’s special to be back here, where you kind of grew up,” Guentzel said. “A lot of good memories in this building and this city. … I think it’s just hockey after the first shift. You kind of just soak it in in warmups. Once the puck drops, it’s back to hockey.”
The Pens’ Bryan scored at 18:09 of the second to give them a 2-1 lead headed to the third period.
“It’s a designed play,” Rust said. “Just kind of had my forehand coming off that wall. Try to shoot it through traffic and I was able to get it in.”
In the third, the Pens scored twice on empty net strikes with less than two minutes remaining in the match.
Drew O’Connor hit the first empty net at scored an 18:04 for a 3-1 lead.
Crosby hit the second with 23 seconds left on the game clock for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard. 
Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves in the loss.
“We couldn’t score. We didn’t get to the net,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Actually, after the first period, we played pretty good. It was kind of a weird game. Second period, I thought, was pretty solid overall. But give up two.
“Didn’t really get enough at the net. We were a little light around that area. We put up some good shots, but not enough traffic. Kind of made it an easy night for them.”
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