Power play sparks Hurricanes to victory against Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- The Carolina Hurricanes scored four straight goals, including two on the power play, and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

Martin Necas had a goal and an assist, and Jackson Blake, Shayne Gostisbehere and Jack Roslovic scored for the Hurricanes (2-1-0), who have won two straight after opening the season with a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jesperi Kotkaniemi had two assists, and Frederik Andersen made 25 saves.

“That mindset coming in was right again,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We know how we have to play. It’s hard. The way we play is really hard. The guys bought in tonight right from the start, all four lines. I thought we were pretty tight most of the way. Didn’t give them a lot of room.

“We actually, probably deserved a lot better. We had a lot of good scoring opportunities. Just hit posts and some things, but I liked how we stuck with it.”

Joel Blomqvist made 35 saves, and Drew O'Connor scored his third goal in six games for the Penguins (3-3-0), who had won three of four.

“If you can dictate the terms, you can play in their end. If you let them, you play in your end,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We played in our end tonight.”

O’Connor gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 12:20 of the first period on a wrist shot from the left face-off dot.

Blake tied it 1-1 at 13:24 on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle set up by Eric Robinson’s feed from behind the net. It was the 21-year-old's second NHL goal; they have come in his past two games.

Necas gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead on their first power-play goal of the season at 6:52 of the second period, beating Blomqvist to the glove side with a wrist shot from the left dot.

Gostisbehere extended the lead to 3-1 at 17:13 with Carolina's second power-play goal of the period. It came after Michael Bunting was assessed a double minor for high-sticking at 16:04. Necas had the secondary assist.

“I think we just had a direction in the sense that we were going to have quick puck movement,” Gostisbehere said. “We were going to see our plays. We knew they weren’t an overly aggressive penalty kill. So for us to feel the puck out there, find our spots and find the chemistry, get rewarded with a few, it’s pretty nice.”

Carolina went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage; Pittsburgh was 0-for-5.

“I just thought the guys moved the puck a little better, a little more efficiently,” Brind’Amour said. “Then a little more of a shooter’s mentality. We did a good job on entries, for the most part. Won a couple of face-offs. All those slight things just matter. Obviously, we were able to capitalize.”

The Penguins were outshot 28-11 through two periods.

“There are so many things that need to be better,” Pittsburgh forward Lars Eller said. “The attitude, the energy, the execution. If those things are better, then we’re probably not playing as much short-handed. So we put ourselves in those spots all the time. I hope we don’t see another game like this.”

Roslovic scored his first goal with the Hurricanes on a wrist shot from the right circle at 11:00 of the third period for the 4-1 final.

“They just worked harder than us and got rewarded for it,” Penguins defenseman Kris Letang said. “Obviously, early on you want to find your identity, if you can call it that; what your team is going to be made of. You want to establish that really early. Right now, it’s like a roller coaster.”

NOTES: Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were each held without a shot on goal. In a 6-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, Crosby scored in overtime and had two assists, passing 1,600 NHL points, and Malkin scored his 500th NHL goal. ... Andersen (70-28-4 in 104 games for Carolina) is the fastest goalie to 70 wins in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. Cam Ward had 70 wins in his first 140 games for Carolina. ... The Hurricanes were 0-for-5 on the power play through their first two games this season after ranking second in the NHL last season (26.9 percent). ... Kotkaniemi reached 100 NHL assists with his second of the game, on Roslovic's goal.