Acquired in a trade Dec. 12, goaltender Stuart Skinner had yet to enjoy a victory in his first three games as an employee of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Not coincidentally, he had yet to work with a lead at any point in those three contests.
Both of those trends came to a halt Tuesday as he directed the Penguins to a 5-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PPG Paints Arena.
Unofficially stopping 27 of 28 shots, Skinner lifted his record with the Penguins to 1-3-0. Acquired from the Edmonton Oilers this month, Skinner’s overall mark on the season improved to 12-11-4.
The triumph was accomplished without the services of new forward Yegor Chinakhov. Acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, Chinakhov was unable to trek to Pittsburgh in a timely enough fashion to make his debut for the Penguins. Officially, he was a healthy scratch.
Skinner worked with his first lead since joining the Penguins thanks to forward Sidney Crosby’s team-leading 21st goal 3 minutes, 46 seconds into regulation.
Behind the Carolina net, Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller was pestered into a turnover by Penguins forward Bryan Rust, and the puck slid into the lower-left circle. Penguins forward Rickard Rakell jumped on it and immediately tapped a pass across the slot to the opposite circle, where Crosby — while sliding backwards onto his knees — was able to swipe a one-timer by goaltender Frederik Andersen’s glove on the near side.
Penguins forward Justin Brazeau established a career high with his 12th goal at 16:07 of the first period.
Recovering a puck on his own right half-wall, Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak curled around to the slot, then snapped a stretch pass to the far blue line. Brazeau accepted the offering and burst into Carolina’s zone down the slot. Fending off Miller, Brazeau lunged forward and backhanded the puck from the lower-left hashmark to the far side past Andersen’s glove. The lone assist went to Kulak, the 100th of his career.
A mere 65 seconds later, Penguins forward Anthony Mantha struck with his 13th goal during a power-play sequence.
Controlling the puck in the high slot of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson dribbled a bouncing pass to the left circle for Rust, who whipped a wrister toward the cage. Andersen made the initial save with his left leg but yielded a rebound above the crease. Establishing position on Hurricanes rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin, Mantha batted the loose puck past Andersen’s charred glove.
Penguins forward Tommy Novak got in on the act with his seventh goal at 15:08 of the second period.
Off a cross-ice stretch pass by Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, Novak gained the offensive blue line on the right wing, juked past Hurricanes forward William Carrier and whipped a wrister from the high slot through traffic and by Andersen’s glove. Nikishin appeared to inadvertently screen Andersen on the sequence.
Exactly three minutes later, Mantha found the net again.
Initiating a give-and-go sequence with Brazeau, Mantha converted from the top of Carolina’s crease by deflecting a backhander past Andersen’s leaky glove.
Ex-Penguins forward Mark Jankowski accounted for the Hurricanes’ only offense with his second goal of the season, only 13 seconds afterward.
Notes: Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves was placed on waivers. Should he go unclaimed by 2 p.m. Wednesday, he can be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. … In addition to Chinakhov, Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton and Kevin Hayes were healthy scratches.