Andersen makes 34 saves, Hurricanes defeat Penguins

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Frederik Andersen made 34 saves for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena on Saturday.

The win was Andersen's second straight after he missed 29 games with a lower-body injury. He made 21 saves in a 6-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
"I'll take the two wins for sure," Andersen said. "You've got to keep building on just feeling good. Anyone who has been out longer periods of time will tell you they miss everything about playing and being part of the group, so it feels good to be back."
Brady Skjei and Jalen Chatfield scored for the Hurricanes (27-9-7).
Rickard Rakell scored for the Penguins (21-15-6), who have lost two in a row and eight of 10 (2-6-2). Casey DeSmith made 34 saves.
"We're trying to play the game the right way," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "There are different ways to create offense against a team like this. You don't get a ton off the rush, that's the challenge when you play a team like Carolina."
Skjei gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 17:02 of the first period, scoring glove side with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
"If you can wait a little longer and see him go down, you can usually cut to the middle and try to make a play," Skjei said. "Luckily [DeSmith] bit, and I got to the middle."

Said DeSmith: "I definitely would like to have that one. Once he pulled it around 'Raks,' I picked it up. It hit the top of my glove, bent it in and just kind of trickled over."
Chatfield made it 2-0 at 9:14 of the second period with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Sebastian Aho from along the right-wing boards. He has four goals in his past 11 games after failing to score in his first 66 NHL games.
"It was a beautiful play," Chatfield said. "[The pass] was right in my wheelhouse, got a good shot and it went in."
Rakell cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 7:48 of the third period. Andersen attempted to bat the puck away after catching Jake Guentzel's shot from the point, but Rakell batted the clearing attempt into the net.
"I was trying to get it out of the zone and not give up a whistle, but obviously a worst-case scenario," Andersen said. "It doesn't matter how you get scored on, you've got to reset and finish the job. The guys helped out and we got the win."

Rakell's goal was his 15th of the season.
"I saw that he tried to make a play on it. I just tried to get something in there," Rakell said. "Obviously, it was rather lucky."
Andersen made 23 saves in the second and third period, including two on Evgeni Malkin during a 5-on-3 power play late in the second.
"They did a great job killing that, and obviously Freddie was great," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It's funny that they get a power-play goal, and he gave it to them. But that's all he gave all night. It was a great performance."
Pittsburgh outshot the Hurricanes 16-7 in the third period. Their best scoring chance came on a backhand from Malkin with 1:06 remaining, but Anderson again made a left-pad save.
"I thought we just played on our toes [in the third]," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. "We had some decent zone time and decent chances. We had some good looks and could have tied it up."
NOTES: Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson missed his second straight game with an illness. ... Aho extended his point streak to four games (one goal, five assists). … Skjei has nine goals this season, tying his NHL career high. ... Seven of Carolina's eight goals the past two games have been scored by its defensemen. … The Hurricanes swept the season series against the Penguins (4-0-0).