Hurricanes tie game late, defeat Penguins in OT in Crosby return

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Sean Walker scored with 29 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 at Lenovo Center on Wednesday.

Walker scored on a one-timer from high in the left face-off circle off a pass by Sebastian Aho.

“I just opened up, he made a nice pass and I figured it was a good time to try and shoot,” Walker said. “Happy it went in.”

K'Andre Miller had tied it 5-5 for Carolina at 17:09 of the third period when his shot from the right circle took a deflection in front.

Jackson Blake had a goal and two assists, Nikolaj Ehlers had three assists, and Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven and Walker each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes (43-19-6), who lead the Penguins by eight points for first place in the Metropolitan Division and the Buffalo Sabres by two points for first in the Eastern Conference. Frederik Andersen made 30 saves. 

The Hurricanes were coming off a 5-1 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

“I thought we were great pretty much all night. It’s just, it was a weird game,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Going into the third, it was 2-1. It ends up 6-5. You would never have thought that, the way it was going. We created a ton of good opportunities, we just didn’t cash in. Give the guys credit. We just kept playing.”

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in his return from injury, and Erik Karlsson had two goals and an assist for the Penguins (34-18-16), who finished 2-1-2 on a five-game road trip. They lead the New York Islanders by one point for second in the Metropolitan.

"It's a credit to the guys, the willingness to battle and not quit, stay with it," Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. "But we'll also walk out of this game too with plenty to clean up, especially in the first two periods."

Stuart Skinner made 38 saves, and Rickard Rakell had two assists.

"I felt really good," Skinner said. "I think that's why I'm really annoyed right now because I let in six goals. I wouldn't have expected that. But it's a hard game, it's a hard league."

Crosby missed the previous 11 games after he sustained a lower-body injury during the second period of Team Canada's 4-3 overtime win against Team Czechia in the quarterfinals at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Feb. 18. He did not play in the semifinals or the 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the gold medal game on Feb 22.

Carolina scored short-handed to take a 1-0 lead at 9:34 of the first period. Jordan Staal chipped a lead pass off the right boards before Jordan Martinook chased the puck down at the top of the circles and snapped a shot to the glove side.

“It was kind of rolling when I got it. I just settled it and shot,” Martinook said. “I shoot on him every summer, so that’s a spot of interest for me.”

Crosby tied it 1-1 at 9:57 of the second period. Rakell finished a check on Jalen Chatfield along the end boards and poked the puck free to Crosby, who scored through the five-hole on the backhand.

Blake’s 20th goal of the season put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1 at 16:51. He took a pass from Hall, cut around Penguins defenseman Ilya Solovyov in the right circle and put a backhand through Skinner’s pads.

“I saw the guy (Solovyov) lay down, and ‘Hallsy’ did a great job of skating it across and giving me some space,” Blake said. “I tried to go far side earlier in the period on my backhand, and that didn’t work out, so I just tried to go five-hole.”

Karlsson scored during 5-on-3 power play with a slap shot from above the circles to tie it 2-2 at 59 seconds of the third period.

“All the games since the Olympic break have been a lot more intense,” Karlsson said. “And they’re going to be that way moving forward. We’re in a battle. We’ve just got to worry about ourselves and do the things that we do well and not worry too much about what is going on around us.”

Hall then put the Hurricanes ahead 3-2 at 3:27. Blake made a cross-ice pass to Hall, who cut to the low slot and scored on the backhand.

“We’re very resilient. It doesn’t matter what the score is,” Blake said. “We’re going to compete, we’re going to battle and we’re going to play the way Rod wants us to play.”

Bryan Rust tied it 3-3 at 7:16. After Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin fanned on a shot, Rust got loose on a breakaway and slipped a backhand inside the right post.

Stankoven made it 4-3 for Carolina with a power-play goal at 12:59, one-timing an Ehlers pass in the low slot.

The Penguins then scored twice in 23 seconds. Karlsson scored through traffic on a snap shot from above the right circle to tie it 4-4 at 14:46, before Ben Kindel took a pass from Anthony Mantha and scored from between the circles for a 5-4 lead at 15:09.

"Both coaches probably wouldn't be thrilled with (the third period),” said Crosby, the Pittsburgh captain. “Some lead changes, things like that, but sometimes that's what the game dictates. And obviously it's about winning at the end of the day, so we've got to find a way to win that game."

NOTES: The teams combined for four game-tying goals in the third period, the fourth time in NHL history that has been done. … Crosby had four shots on goal in 18:33. ... Rakell has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Rust has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … Mantha has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak. … Karlsson has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a three-game point streak. … Aho’s assist on the game-winner gave him 700 NHL points (307 goals, 393 assists). … Ehlers has five assists in a three-game point streak. … Andersen has won four straight starts and is 7-1-3 in his past 11. … The Hurricanes have won 10 straight home games against the Penguins dating to the 2018-19 season.