Karlsson gets 200th goal, Penguins shut out Blackhawks

PITTSBURGH -- Erik Karlsson scored his 200th NHL goal, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0 at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Karlsson is the 23rd defenseman in NHL history to reach the milestone and second active to do so, joining Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes (261).

"It's obviously a nice one,” Karlsson said. “I don't know if it is actually a milestone though, but I'll take it. Been fortunate to play for a long time and score some goals over the years. Hopefully, I've got another 100 in me."

Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for his second shutout this season and 21st in the NHL. Kevin Hayes scored twice, and Bryan Rust and Danton Heinen each had two assists for the Penguins (32-35-12), who lost 3-1 at Chicago on Sunday to begin the home-and-home set.

Spencer Knight made 22 saves for the Blackhawks (22-46-10), who have lost 13 of 15 games (2-11-2) dating to March 8.

“I don’t think they let me down,” Chicago coach Anders Sorensen said. “They let themselves and their teammates down, right? I mean, I think that’s the biggest part of it. We’re a group here. It’s not me or them. It's a group thing. We let each other down today.”

Each team has been eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sidney Crosby put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0 six seconds into a power play at 19:44 of the first period with his 31st goal of the season and 12th in 14 games. He turned in front of Chicago defenseman Alex Vlasic to chip in a pass from Rickard Rakell.

Crosby extended his home point streak to 14 games (20 points; nine goals, 11 assists).

“Listen, these guys have done a great job,” Penguins assistant coach David Quinn said. “When you have this type of talent, you have a great chance to have a good power play. These guys have certainly done a great job working together.”

Karlsson then made it 2-0 at 4:45 of the second period with his 11th goal, taking a pass Ville Koivunen slid above the crease for a wrist shot near the left post.

Kris Letang ended a 20-game goal drought with his ninth of the season and second in 43 games, pushing it to 3-0 at 4:28 of the third period on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

“The coaches give us all the right messages,” Chicago forward Ryan Donato said. “They can tell us everything to do. It's about us going to execute that. They give us a good plan to go win the game. We all have to buy into that and play the same way. It’s on the veterans and some of the young guys to make sure we’re doing what we’re told.”

Hayes extended the lead to 4-0 at 7:42 with a shot off Knight’s glove before deflecting a pass from Heinen at 18:13 for the 5-0 final.

The Blackhawks held a team meeting lasting about 20 minutes after the loss.

“Just to address games that, sometimes, guys feel like need to be addressed,” Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy said. “Sometimes it’s good to blow off some steam and not sit on it for days.”

With 21 shutouts, Jarry ranks third in Penguins history behind Marc-Andre Fleury (44) and Tom Barrasso (22).

“I think, first and foremost, we had a good bounce-back game,” Jarry said. “Obviously, I think Chicago played well in their building. I think we were able to play well in ours. ... I thought the guys were doing a really good job tonight, just letting me see the puck.”

NOTES: Karlsson is the second Swedish defenseman to score 200 goals, joining Nicklas Lidstrom (264). ... Crosby scored an opening goal for the 285th time, tying Mark Messier for fourth in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (328), Jaromir Jagr (326) and Gordie Howe (320). With his 183rd power-play goal, he tied Evgeni Malkin for second in Penguins history. They trail Mario Lemieux (236). ... Penguins rookie forward Rutger McGroarty left the game with 51 seconds left in the second with a lower-body injury after using his left skate to block a shot from Teuvo Teravainen. Quinn said he was still being evaluated. ... Blackhawks forward Philipp Kurashev left with 3:15 remaining in the third after taking a puck to the face. An update was not provided.