The Carolina Hurricanes were in a tight game Sunday with the Pittsburgh Penguins, needing someone to come up big in the third period and make a difference.
Someone like their captain, Jordan Staal.
Staal’s goal at 13:33 of the third was the game-winner as the Canes bested the Pens 3-2 at PNC Arena, giving rookie goalie Pyotr Kochetkov another win, extending their point streak to 11 games and moving into a near dead heat for the Metropolitan Division lead.
Staal did a little of everything for the Canes (19-6-6), whose 44 points are tied with the Metro-leading New Jersey Devils, who have two more wins than Carolina.
Staal won four faceoffs in the Canes’ zone against Sidney Crosby in the final 72 seconds of regulation after the Pens pulled goalie Casey DeSmith for a sixth attacker. He screened DeSmith earlier in the third, allowing defenseman Brady Skjei to score on a shot from the left point for a 2-2 tie.
“He’s usually there and he’s a big body,” a smiling Skjei said of the screen by Staal. “I’m not surprised that the goalie couldn’t see that one. But he’s phenomenal, huge for us every night.”
Carolina trailed 2-1 in the third after the Pens’ Brock McGinn — the former Canes forward — scored off the rush five minutes into the period. But Skjei’s goal three minutes later, the D-man’s sixth, set up the finish.
The Canes, again without injured center Sebastian Aho, were back on the ice for a 5 p.m. start Sunday after taking a 5-4 overtime win Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. Derek Stepan scored the game’s first goal Sunday in the second period as Canes’ fourth line struck again, but Rickard Rakell’s power-play goal tied it for the Pens.
Goalie Tristan Jarry has won his past six games for the Pens, but DeSmith was in net Sunday, making his second start in December. The Pens (18-9-4), also making a strong push at the Metro lead, had won seven straight games and had picked up points in nine consecutive road games, a franchise record.
Kochetkov, taking over as the Canes’ No. 1 goalie, made his seventh start of the month after Antti Raanta played against the Stars. Kochetkov improved to 9-1-4, finishing with 23 saves, 11 in the first period.
“Proud of the group,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re tired, mentally. Played a lot of games and obviously missing a lot of pieces. But we’re getting a lot of contributions.”
Takeaways from the game
— Not exactly breaking news but Canes winger Martin Necas has become a dynamic player, the kind who can raise the decibel level in the building when he gets the puck on his stick. He had a between-the-legs shot Sunday that caused nearly as big a roar as a score.
“He’s always been dangerous,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s just getting better. He took that danger level to another level. He’s confident. Let’s face it, you don’t make these kinds of plays he’s making without being confident.”
— Teuvo Teravainen, who played his seventh game since being sidelined with an injury, has always been an underrated defender and is effective on the penalty kill. Late in a Pens’ power play in the first period, the winger knocked the puck away from Evgeni Malkin as the Canes killed off a penalty in a then-scoreless game.
— McGinn scores. For several years that was a good thing for the Canes. But the winger signed with the Pens and left and was back Sunday to torment his former team with a third-period goal off the rush — on a pass from Kasperi Kapanen — for a 2-1 Pens lead.
— Jaccob Slavin never takes a penalty. Well, maybe two or three — a season. The defenseman got one Sunday, flipping the puck across the ice and over the glass, for his third of 2022-23. It was costly for the Canes as Rakell promptly scored on the power play for a 1-1 tie in the second.
— Jesper Fast makes all the plays, large and small, that can make difference in a game. The winger made a sweet pass to Staal for the winner but also won a board battle to get the puck out of the zone later in the third.
— Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi was active Sunday, on a day when the Canes were slow starters, and had a team-high six hits but needs to take more advantage of his offensive chances.
