Hurricanes recover in shootout after blowing late 2-goal lead to Penguins

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes recovered after blowing a two-goal lead late in the third period to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in a shootout at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

Andrei Svechnikov and Jackson Blake scored in the shootout for Carolina.

“I almost lost the puck actually, so that was kind of scary,” Blake said. “I just look around everywhere when I get the puck. It’s only a couple seconds you get there. I just tried to sneak one in five-hole.”

Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh on a rebound with 36 seconds remaining in the third period to tie it 4-4 after Noel Acciari cut it to 4-3 with 2:08 left with Stuart Skinner pulled for the extra attacker.

Alexander Nikishin had a goal and an assist, and Seth Jarvis and Logan Stankoven also scored for the Hurricanes (41-17-6), who have won eight of 10 (8-2-0) and extended their home point streak to 12 games (11-0-1). Frederik Andersen made 24 saves.

“The second period we were in the box too much. We never got any flow going,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But I thought the third was great. We came out the way we needed to play. All in all, it was a solid third period, and we got the two points.”

Rust had two goals and an assist, and Erik Karlsson and Egor Chinakhov each had two assists for the Penguins (32-17-15), who have lost five of seven (2-2-3). Skinner made 39 saves.

“We just got back on our heels in the first half of the first period. We were letting them dictate the speed,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “Obviously the end of the third, the 6-on-5 situations, some guys executed, but I thought we got away from the things that were working in the second."

Stankoven gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 7:46 of the first period. After Skinner stopped consecutive shots by Mike Reilly, the Hurricanes’ defenseman passed to Stankoven for a snap shot below the left hash marks.

Anthony Mantha tied it 1-1 at 19:04 when he took a pass from Ville Koivunen and curled to the slot before scoring on a snap shot under the crossbar.

Rust scored on the power play to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 11:44 of the second period. Chinakhov made a diagonal pass from above the left circle to Rust, who roofed a shot from below the right circle.

Mark Jankowski tied it 2-2 at 2:49 of the third period. His shot from the slot hit Skinner in the mask, but Jankowski scored on a rebound in the low slot.

“When we have to play in our D-zone, we have to defend hard, and we've got to be good in front of our net,” Rust said. “When you’re playing against really good teams, there’s going to be momentum swings here and there. You obviously want to maximize yours.”

Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead at 3:48. Svechnikov chipped the puck up the boards through the neutral zone, and Jarvis protected the puck and cut through the slot to score over Skinner’s glove.

“To come out like that and put our game on them was huge,” Jarvis said. “That game should have been put away, but a lot of credit to our ‘D’ and a lot of credit to our penalty killers."

Nikishin extended it to 4-2 at 11:21, one-timing a pass from Sebastian Aho on a 5-on-3. The rookie defenseman was playing on the top power-play unit with Shayne Gostisbehere out with a lower-body injury.

“It feels good playing on the first power play,” Nikishin said through Svechnikov’s translation. “You’ve got to expect everything because all the passes can come from anywhere and [you need to] be focused there.”

The Hurricanes have gone 23 games without consecutive regulation losses.

“When we get our identity going, we understand how we need to play,” Brind’Amour said. “Sometimes I feel like we get off of it a little and try to do a little too much. When we simplify our game, that’s what happens. We have been cashing in here lately, but it’s getting to the game we need to play.”

NOTES: Nikishin’s goal was his ninth of the season, passing Justin Faulk (2011-12) for the most goals by a rookie defenseman in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise history. … Jarvis has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak. … Skinner is 0-1-4 in his past five starts. … Karlsson has five points (one goal, four assists) in a three-game point streak.