In Tempe, Jake Guentzel hit for a pair of goals in the middle frame on Sunday night to help lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 win over the Coyotes. 
“It’s a funny game, they come in bunches sometimes,” Guentzel said.
The win ended a six-game skid for the Pens.
“We’re trying to get this thing back on the tracks and playing the game with the confidence we know this team is capable of playing with,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “So I thought it was important to get this win for a lot of reasons.”
The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a strike by Barrett Hayton.
“We had some opportunities, and it’s frustrating not getting the result we wanted,” Hayton said. “They pushed us throughout the night. … It was a tough loss.”
Casey DeSmith made 23 saves in the Pittsburgh win.
“I definitely felt good the whole game,” DeSmith said. “I was fortunate to make a couple of big saves around some odd-man rushes and keep our momentum going into the third, which I think is really important.”
The Penguins moved to 20-13-6.
Jason Zucker scored midway through the third period to extend the Pens’ lead to 3-1.
“We played hard and we played the game the right way,” Sullivan said. “I was most encouraged by the third period because I didn’t think we gave them much.”
Arizona dropped to 13-21-5.
“We defended really well against a team that’s tough to play against,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “We were really, really solid against elite players, but we just could not score. We had breakaways, good looks from the slot, rebounds. We just couldn’t find a way to get a big goal.”
Jeff Carter hit for an empty-net goal late in the third for the 4-1 final.
Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves in the loss.
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