Penguins defeat Hurricanes for sixth straight win

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Pittsburgh Penguins won their season-high sixth straight game and moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 6-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday.
Phil Kessel had two goals and an assist, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel each had three points and Matt Murray made 27 saves for the Penguins (36-22-4), who moved one point ahead of the Washington Capitals atop the Metropolitan.

WATCH: [All Penguins vs. Hurricanes highlights]
"I think we played really well from the first shift to the last," Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist said. "We were in their face. They're a fast team. Today we chipped it behind and went in to get it. We had a good game."

Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes (27-24-10), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1). Carolina remains one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Cam Ward made 33 saves.
"The storyline is they outworked us and they showed they wanted it more tonight," Hurricanes forward Justin Williams said. "Our response was poor, very poor. That's frustrating because we've got to be better, and certainly I'm at the top of that list."
Guentzel started the scoring with his 20th of the season at 13:36 of the first period when Kessel moved into the slot and found Guentzel for an easy tap-in.
Olli Maatta scored his fifth of the season 46 seconds into the second period with a wrist shot inside the near post to make it 2-0.
Teravainen cut the lead to 2-1 at 2:05. He stopped Elias Lindholm's shot from the high slot with his skate and shot it under the crossbar.

Kessel scored two goals 2:14 apart to put the Penguins ahead 4-1. He scored his 25th goal when he took a cross-ice pass from Guentzel and sent a hard wrist shot from the left face-off circle at 6:11. Kessel then finished a short pass from Riley Sheahan at the front of the net that trickled over the goal line at 8:25.
"We had a really good second," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "They come back with a weird goal; we thought it was going to be an icing. They had a big shift, but we held them off there and got two quick ones to get the momentum back. We just stuck with it after that."
The Penguins took a 5-1 lead on Crosby's power-play goal at 9:12 of the third period.
With an assist on Crosby's goal, Kris Letang tied Paul Coffey for the most assists by a defenseman in Penguins history (332).
Malkin extended the lead to 6-1 at 12:42.

"I thought we played well defensively," Letang said. "Our forwards made all the zones kind of tight for the other team, so it made our job easier, especially on the rush. It was a good team effort."

Goal of the game

Kessel's goal at 2:14 of the second period.

Save of the game

Murray against Lindholm at 18:46 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Guentzel's goal at 13:36 of the first period.

They said it

"I've played 12 years; I think Paul Coffey played three years (five) for the Penguins. It's fun to see your name up there. He is a special player. He's one of the greatest in the history of the game, so I don't compare myself to him." -- Penguins defenseman Kris Letang
"Tonight was a long night. This was a tough one. They were on us. They forechecked properly and you know you've got to move the puck to alleviate pressure. We did it at times, but at other times we just struggled." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Need to know

Kessel's three-point game was his fourth in the past 18 games. … The Penguins are 17-4-1 since the start of 2018. … Hurricanes co-captain Jordan Staal missed the game for personal reasons. … Teravainen 15th goal matches his NHL career-high, set last season. … Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin played his 200th consecutive game.

What's next

Penguins: At the Florida Panthers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: At the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, FS-D, NHL.TV)