Crosby has 3 points, Penguins end Hurricanes point streak at 7

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 38 saves for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who ended the Carolina Hurricanes' point streak at seven games with a 4-1 win at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Bryan Rust, Jesse Puljujarvi and Drew O'Connor scored for the Penguins (31-30-10), who had allowed at least four goals in three straight losses (0-2-1).

“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.”

Dmitry Orlov scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves for Carolina (45-21-7). Jake Guentzel had six shots on goal in his first game against his former team since being acquired in a trade on March 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."

Puljujarvi put the Penguins ahead 1-0 at 2:41 of the second period. He took a drop pass from Lars Eller after coming off the bench and beat Kochetkov with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. He has three goals this season, all of which have come in the past six games.

“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.”

Orlov tied it 1-1 at 11:17 with a wrist shot above the left circle that deflected in off Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Karlsson.

“Started to get to our game a bit,” Hurricanes captain 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."

Rust gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 18:09, scoring with a snap shot from the left circle off a face-off win by Crosby.

“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.”

O'Connor scored an empty-net goal to make it 3-1 at 18:04 of the third period before Crosby scored into another empty net with 23 seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.

"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.”

NOTES: Crosby leads the Penguins with 76 points (35 goals, 41 assists) in 71 games this season. He reached 40 assists for the 15th time, passing Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings (14) for the most among active players. ... Guentzel had 466 points (219 goals, 247 assists) in 503 games for Pittsburgh, including winning the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 2017. ... The Hurricanes outshot the Penguins 30-14 over the final two periods. ... Forward Michael Bunting, who was acquired by the Penguins in the Guentzel trade, had one shot on goal in 14:30 of ice time. ... Penguins forward Sam Poulin played 9:11 in his season debut after being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. The 23-year-old, selected by Pittsburgh in the first round (No. 21) of the 2019 NHL Draft, took a leave of absence for personal reasons on Dec. 7, 2022, before returning to play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on April 7, 2023.