Skinner makes 27 saves, Penguins cruise past Hurricanes

PITTSBURGH -- Stuart Skinner made 27 saves for his first win in four starts with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Skinner was acquired, along with defenseman Brett Kulak and a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft, in a trade from the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12 for goalie Tristan Jarry and forward Samuel Poulin.

“It feels really good,” Skinner, who allowed 12 goals in his first three games with Pittsburgh, said. “Obviously, first win, it’s been a couple weeks being here. So, it felt really good to finally get the first one.”

Anthony Mantha scored twice, Justin Brazeau and Tommy Novak each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Karlsson and Bryan Rust each had two assists for the Penguins (17-12-9), who have outscored their opponents 12-4 in two straight wins. Sidney Crosby scored his team-leading 21st goal.

Mark Jankowski scored, and Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for the Hurricanes (24-12-3), who had won their previous two games, including 3-2 in overtime against the New York Rangers on Monday.

“It was lackluster,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s not the way we’ve got to play. ... I think we had a couple guys, especially early, that were just not engaged. And then, just kind of gave them some easy looks. They ended up in the back of our net.

“Pittsburgh played a good game. Give them credit. But it was a pretty easy game.”

Crosby put the Penguins ahead 1-0 on its second shot on goal at 3:46 of the first period. He fell while dropping to one knee to the right of the net for a snap shot off a backhand pass from Rickard Rakell.

Brazeau, after scoring his first NHL hat trick in a 7-3 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, made it 2-0 at 16:07. Brett Kulak sent a stretch pass through the neutral zone and Brazeau lunged forward to backhand it in just before Carolina defenseman K'Andre Miller could knock it away.

“You can’t play in the NHL and win playing like that,” Brind’Amour said. “We did need to get off to a better start. I think that might have given us some life, but we were flat again tonight.”

Mantha scored 1:05 later on a power play, extending the lead to 3-0 at 17:12 with a wrist shot in the slot off a rebound from Rust.

“We’re just playing good, playing smart hockey,” Mantha said. “The chances are there. We’re converting. So, it’s good hockey.”

Novak made it 4-0 at 15:08 of the second period on a wrist shot from the high slot past a screen from Noel Acciari.

Mantha deflected a pass from Brazeau at the net front to push it to 5-0 at 18:08 for his 14th goal and fourth in three games.

“Just wasn’t good enough, all around, right from the start,” Jankowski said. “Obviously, the first period, we let them kind of control the play. Get a power-play goal there and we just, you know, we didn’t come ready to play. That’s on us, all of us, in the locker room. We had to do a better job.”

Jankowski answered 17 seconds later, cutting it to 5-1 at 18:25 with a wrist shot from the right circle.

“We just kept playing. That’s what we want,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “I think when you start to get too far away from it, in terms of you go into the third period with a lead like that and you suddenly change what you’re doing, it can go the other way. That’s been the message all year.

“It hasn’t, at times, looked that way. But that has been the message. I think we did a good job there. ... When it was time to defend, I thought, for the most part, we were in pretty good spots.”

NOTES: Mantha’s three-game goal streak is the longest for a player in his first season with the Penguins since Jake Guentzel scored in five straight as a rookie in 2016-17. ... Crosby scored his 232nd go-ahead goal, tying Teemu Selanne for the fourth-most in NHL history behind Alex Ovechkin (295), Brett Hull (264) and Jaromir Jagr (262). ... Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury. ... Pittsburgh forward Yegor Chinakhov didn’t play after being acquired in a trade Monday from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Danton Heinen, a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in 2027.