Pyotr Kochetkov, who made 23 saves, has won four straight starts and is 7-0-1 in his past eight games.
"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."
Rickard Rakell and Brock McGinn scored, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for the Penguins (18-9-4), who had their winning streak end at seven games and their road point streak at a franchise-record nine.
"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."
Stepan gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 3:25 of the second period. Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen battled along the boards with Jan Rutta before the puck bounced out to Stepan, who scored blocker side from the left circle.
Each of Stepan's two goals this season have come in the past three games.
Rakell tied it 1-1 at 12:20, redirecting Evgeni Malkin's pass from above the right circle on a power play.
"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."
Brock McGinn put Pittsburgh in front 2-1 at 5:03 of the third period with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Kasperi Kapanen on a 2-on-1.
"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."
Skjei tied it 2-2 at 8:17 on a one-timer from the point through traffic.
"It was one of those seeing eye shots that you could see going in the whole way, which was nice," Skjei said.
