Karlsson scores twice, Penguins defeat Jets in shootout

PITTSBURGH -- Erik Karlsson’s second goal of the game tied it with 7:15 left in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won 5-4 in a shootout against the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.

Karlsson made it 4-4 with his fifth goal in three games, a wrist shot off a drop pass from Bryan Rust, who had two assists in his 700th NHL game. Karlsson has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 11 games this month.

“I think our entire game this time of the year, you need a lot of experience,” Karlsson said. “I think we have a lot of that in this room. Even today when, at times, we didn’t play our best hockey, we gave up a lot of chances. But again, I felt like there wasn’t any panic.

“We stuck with it, trusted the process. ... I think today was an experienced win for us, not necessarily our best game.”

Egor Chinakhov had a goal and an assist, and Parker Wotherspoon had two assists for the Penguins (35-18-16), who are 3-0-1 in their past four games after winning for the second time in 12 games that have required a shootout. Arturs Silovs made 21 saves.

Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell scored in the shootout for Pittsburgh. Silovs made saves against Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist. The Penguins are second in the Metropolitan Division, eight points behind Carolina Hurricanes and three ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets in third. 

“Going into a shootout, it’s been on top of everyone’s head that it hasn’t gone great,” Rakell said. “We kind of worked on some shootouts yesterday in practice and just said we were going to turn the page and try to go out there with confidence. I think that’s what we did.”

Brad Lambert had a goal and an assist, Neal Pionk scored in his return from missing 23 games with an undisclosed injury and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the Jets (28-29-12), who have lost three straight (0-1-2).

Winnipeg is four points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

“I like our resilience,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “I like the way that we battled back. ... I just thought we had a lot of opportunities. Their goaltender made some stops. We had some really good looks. Obviously, (we) got the lead. Those are the types of games you need to finish off.”

Pittsburgh scored on two of its first three shots.

Chinakhov put it ahead 1-0 at 1:06, cutting above Winnipeg defenseman Dylan DeMelo to the slot for a wrist shot and his 100th NHL point.

Rakell made it 2-0 at 2:02, tapping in a backhand pass from Rust just above the crease.

Morgan Barron cut it to 2-1 at 3:50, when his shot off a rebound from Lambert was blocked by Karlsson and fluttered in as both he and Karlsson slid into Silovs. It was upheld after the Penguins challenged for goalie interference.

“(Karlsson) is part of my equation, in my head,” Barron said. “But I’m not really thinking about him. Watching it over, I kind of felt like he wedged himself in between, and I think if he’s not there, I stop and I’m nowhere near the goalie.”

Cole Koepke tied it 2-2 with a short-handed goal at 6:10 of the second period, going forehand to backhand off a pass from Adam Lowry on a 2-on-1. 

Karlsson put Pittsburgh back in front 3-2 at 15:22 with a shot through traffic from the right face-off circle. 

“(Karlsson) has taken it to another level, he really has,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “It’s been incredible to watch. ... You get to this time of the year, everything’s elevated. He’s been great all year. When it’s getting harder and it’s getting tighter, he just keeps finding a way to elevate his game.”

Pionk tied it 3-3 at 4:04 of the third when his shot from the point went in off the post.

“It’s nice to make a contribution,” Pionk said. “But, you know, still the same feeling. We lost.”

Mark Scheifele seemed to give the Jets a lead at 4:39 with another shot in off the post, but the Penguins challenged and it was determined Alex Iafallo used a high stick to move the puck.

Lambert then gave Winnipeg a 4-3 lead at 8:36 with his second NHL goal, collecting a loose puck in the neutral zone and driving to the high slot for a wrist shot.

NOTES: It was Crosby’s 327th career comeback win, moving him past Tampa Bay Lightning forward Corey Perry for ninth in NHL history. Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is the only active player with more (341). …  Rust has played all of his 700 games with Pittsburgh, joining Crosby (1,410), Evgeni Malkin (1,262), Kris Letang (1,224) and Mario Lemieux (915) as the only players to play at least that many only for the Penguins. ... Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Shea left with an upper-body injury sustained on a hit from Lowry in the second. No update was provided. … Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton had seven hits in 16:30 of ice time. … Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg exited at 2:57 of overtime after taking a puck to the face, but Arniel said he’s expected to be fine.