In Pittsburgh, Jacob Slavin scored with 23 seconds gone in extra time on Thursday to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 win over the Penguins.
Jordan Staal forced the extra session when he tied the game for the Canes in the 16th minute of the third period, 3-3.
“We’ve been resilient, for sure,” Staal said. “Like I’ve said before, the depth on this team, for sure, is really shining through. I think a lot of guys have really stepped up and played great hockey and bigger minutes, and bigger roles. We’ve just kind of been staying with it and trusting our game.”
Antti Raanta made 24 saves in the Carolina win.
“I just think it’s two good teams competing hard,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “There’s a fine line between winning and losing. … I think we can be better in overtime. That’s an important element.”
The Hurricanes improved to 21-6-6 on their seventh straight win.
Pittsburgh’s Brock McGinn tied the game, 2-2 with under a minute left in the middle frame, Bryan Rust scored at 12:55 of the third to give the Pens a 3-2 lead.
“We’ve got to learn to hold onto those leads,” Rust said. “Obviously, we’ve done some really good things as of late. But there’s always areas to clean up and get better. Tonight was a good example.”
The Pens dropped to 19-9-5.
“It’s a hard game against this team,” said Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin, whose nine-game point streak ended (three goals, 10 assists). “We’ve played like three times and scored almost like even because they play hard. … We expect that. Just one mistake in overtime and they score. It’s a little bit tough.”
Sidney Crosby staked the Penguins to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Carolina did not reply until late in the second period on goals from Martin Necas to tie it at 17:43, and Jalen Chatfield at 18:00 for a 2-1 lead.
“What a great group we’ve got,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They just work so hard. They don’t get flustered. … They just kept going. They don’t get down.”
Tristan Jarry made 32 saves in the Pens loss.
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