The Pittsburgh Penguins opened a four-game tour of the western reaches of North America on Monday with a 6-3 victory against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

With nine of his teammates recording a point, Penguins goaltender Stuart Skinner made 20 saves on 23 shots as his record improved to 16-12-4. It was Skinner’s fourth consecutive win.

This road trip comes at a somewhat crucial juncture for the Penguins. As they approach the NHL’s break in February for the Olympics, they have surprisingly — externally, at least — forged a 23-14-11 record with 57 points, figures strong enough to place them in a playoff-worthy spot of the Metropolitan Division standings.

“This is a huge road trip for us,” Penguins forward Rickard Rakell said Sunday in Cranberry. “It’s either going to put us in a really, really good spot. Or it could slip a little bit.

“We have to be ready for it.”

The Penguins were seemingly ready for the start of Monday’s game as they raced out to a two-goal lead in the first period.

Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon opened the scoring with his third goal 5 minutes, 44 seconds into regulation.

Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel fed the puck low to the near corner for linemate Anthony Mantha, who then rimmed along the end boards to the far half-wall for forward Blake Lizotte, jumping onto the ice off a line change. Shielding the puck from Kraken forward Matty Beniers, Lizotte dished a pass to the left point for Wotherspoon, who stopped the puck, turned his attention toward the cage and chopped a slapper to the far side past goaltender Joey Daccord’s glove. Mantha supplied a screen on the sequence. Lizotte and Mantha had assists.

The visitors doubled their lead less than two minutes later at 7:50 of the first period when forward Connor Dewar scored his 10th goal while short-handed.

Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson gained the offensive zone on the left wing and tried to offload the puck to Beniers on the near boards, but he was a bit too casual in that endeavor, allowing Dewar to poke check the puck into the neutral zone. Chasing down the puck, Dewar claimed possession in Seattle’s zone, created his own breakaway and fired a wrister past Daccord’s glove. There were no assists. It was only the second short-handed goal the Penguins have scored this season.

“Shot it glove side,” Dewar said. “And it went in.”

Kraken forward Ben Meyers set a career high with his fifth goal at 16:12 of the first period.

Skinner settled a dump-in off the end boards and played the puck to the right corner. Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak was unable to cleanly play the puck due to pressure from Kraken forward Ryan Winterton. That allowed Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz to swoop in and immediately distribute a pass to the near circle for Meyers. With a mostly clean look at the cage, Meyers sniped a wrister to the far side past Skinner’s blocker. Schwartz and Winterton recorded assists.

Things were tied at 13:55 of the second period via defenseman Ryan Lindgren’s second goal.

Following a turnover on his own right half-wall by Penguins forward Justin Brazeau, Winterton took possession of the puck and fed a cross-ice pass to Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans. From the left circle, Evans snapped a pass to the far side of the crease, where Meyers tried to slam in a forehand shot but was robbed by Skinner’s left leg. On the ensuing scramble, Winterton gathered the rebound and then fed a short-area pass above the crease, where Lindgren plunked in an easy forehand shot by a scrambling Skinner. Winterton and Myers merited assists.

The Penguins reclaimed a lead only 50 seconds later, thanks to an unlikely source when Kulak scored his first goal of the season (and first as a member of the Penguins).

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Penguins forward Sidney Crosby beat former Penguins forward Freddy Gaudreau on a draw in Seattle’s left circle and muscled the puck back to the near point. Kulak gathered in the puck, maneuvered toward the center point and lobbed a wrister toward the cage, beating Daccord’s blocker. Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson appeared to screen Daccord on the sequence. Crosby claimed the only assist.

Brazeau scored his 14th goal 2:21 into the third period.

Off a pass from behind the defensive blue line by Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton, Mantha chugged through the neutral zone, gained the offensive blue line and offloaded the puck to Brazeau at the left point. Crossing over with Mantha, Brazeau gripped and ripped a wrister from above the left circle through the legs of ex-Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and past Daccord’s blocker on the near side. Mantha and Clifton collected assists.

The Kraken persisted as forward Eeli Tolvanen tallied his 10th goal at 7:47 of the third period during a power-play sequence to make it 4-3.

Out of a puck battle in the Penguins’ left corner, Kraken forward Shane Wright fed a pass to the center point. Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour accepted the offering, faked a slapper, then slipped a pass to the right circle for Tolvanen, who toasted a one-timer past Skinner’s glove on the near side. Montour and Wright had assists.

Rakell secured victory at 16:48 of the final frame with his eighth goal.

Montour fended off Rakell in Seattle’s left corner and tried to rim the puck behind the cage to defensive partner Vince Dunn. But Crosby had other ideas as he barged in, overwhelmed Dunn and stole the puck. Initially driving to the left side of the cage, Crosby fed a clever backhand pass to the right side for Rakell, who swiped a forehand shot past the left skate of an unsuspecting Daccord. Crosby claimed the only assist.

Dewar capped the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:30 of the third. Lizotte logged the lone assist.

Notes:

• The Penguins snapped a four-game losing streak against the Kraken (0-3-1). Their most recent win against the Kraken was a 3-0 home victory, Jan. 15, 2024. Goaltender Tristan Jarry made 22 saves to earn the shutout.

• This was the Penguins’ second win in Seattle. They previously won their first road contest against the expansion franchise, claiming a 6-1 victory, Dec. 6, 2021. Penguins forward Jake Guentzel had two goals and an assist.

• Dewar matched his career high in goals (11) and points (19) in 48 games. He previously established those marks during the 2023-24 season skating in 74 games for the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Kulak became the 595th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Crosby appeared in his 1,400th career game.

• Rakell’s goal was his 200th career point with the Penguins (90 goals, 110 assists).

• Skinner (5-4-0) moved into 42nd place on the franchise’s career goaltending wins list. He surpassed:

Joel Blomqvist – 4-9-1

Gord Laxton – 4-9-1

Cam Newton – 4-7-0

Ron Tugnutt – 4-2-0

• Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves appeared in his first NHL game since Dec. 14, opening the contest on the left side of the third pairing.

• Penguins forwards Kevin Hayes and Joona Koppanen, as well as defenseman Jack St. Ivany, were healthy scratches.

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