The Pittsburgh Penguins’ four-game road trip through the western reaches of the continent over the past week wasn’t necessarily any more important than any other quartet of contests this season.

But wins are good to get, regardless of the circumstances.

And four in a row are always great.

With their 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday, the Penguins swept their four-game trip and further calcified their position of second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 26-14-11 record and 63 points.

“Obviously, we’d like to be in first place of the league and have zero losses,” Penguins forward Bryan Rust quipped on Jan. 17 at PPG Paints Arena. “But we’re in an okay spot. This is a big trip coming up.”

Penguins rookie Ben Kindel, a native of Coquitlam, British Columbia, offered a big contribution on Sunday by scoring a pair of goals and snapping a dreary 19-game skid without putting a puck behind the net.

In the Penguins’ net, Stuart Skinner stopped 30 of 32 shots and improved his record to 17-12-4. He extended an individual winning streak to four games.

The triumph wasn’t without a cost, however, as Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany did not record a shift past the 8:11 mark of the first period after suffering an undisclosed injury. There was no substantive word as to his status beyond a social media posting by the team.

Penguins forward Egor Chinakhov appeared to open the scoring 7:47 into regulation, but the Canucks issued a coach’s challenge, alleging the sequence to be offside. Officials reviewed the video and euthanized the score.

Officials also wiped out a would-be score by Canucks forward Connor Garland at 19:04 of the first period after ruling ex-Penguins forward Teddy Blueger interfered with Skinner during the sequence.

A legal goal was finally scored at 5:24 of the second period when forward Evgeni Malkin tallied his 13th score of the season.

Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon raced to get to a puck dumped in behind his own net and rimmed it to the left half wall for Chinakhov. Spinning off a check from Canucks rookie defenseman Zeev Buium, Chinakhov fed an outlet pass to linemate Tommy Novak, who sprinted through the neutral zone and gained the offensive blue line on the right wing. With Malkin drifting in from the left wing, Novak approached the right circle and slipped a pass in front of Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers. Malkin accepted the offering in the lower left circle and lifted a forehand shot over the blocker of sprawling goaltender Kevin Lankinen. Malkin extended a goal-scoring streak to three games. Novak and Chinakhov had assists.

Kindel’s ninth goal of the season came at 8:41 of the second frame.

After Kindel beat Canucks forward Max Sasson on a faceoff in Vancouver’s right circle, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson claimed the puck on the near half-wall. Advancing up the boards a bit, Karlsson before offloading the puck to the center point, where Penguins forward Anthony Mantha moved it on to the left circle for Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea. Maneuvering below the faceoff dot, Shea snapped the puck to the top of the crease. Establishing position above the blue paint, Kindel fought through a stick check by Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson and allowed the puck to deflect off his right skate and into the cage. Shea and Mantha merited assists.

The visitors went up by a field goal at 17:22 of the second via Kindel’s second goal of the contest.

Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak forced Canucks forward Elias Pettersson – yes, there are two Elias Petterssons on the Canucks, and they are not related – into a turnover in the neutral zone. Kindel took possession in front of the visiting penalty box and initiated a give-and-go sequence with linemate Justin Brazeau. After Brazeau made a clever move to top the puck past Buium to gain entry into the offensive zone on the right wing, he offloaded the puck to the top of the near circle for Kindel, who swiped a one-timer through Lankinen’s five hole and off a net camera, which was smashed to pieces. Brazeau and Kulak collected assists.

Canucks forward Jake DeBrusk got his team on the scoreboard with his 13th goal at 6:29 of the third period.

After Karlsson and Penguins forward Noel Acciari failed to connect on a pass in the neutral zone, defenseman Elias Pettersson jabbed it up ice, allowing forward Elias Pettersson to gain the Penguins’ blue line on the left wing. Spinning off a check from Penguins forward Blake Lizotte, forward Elias Pettersson fed a backhand pass to linemate Evander Kane, barging his way through the left circle. After being forced by a hustling Shea to veer behind the cage, Kane emerged to the right of the net and slipped a pass to an on-rushing DeBrusk, who was initially stopped by Skinner’s right leg from the slot.

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The ensuing rebound hit off the left skate of forward Elias Pettersson, then was swatted by Skinner’s stick. As forward Elias Pettersson fell atop a prone Skinner, DeBrusk circled around the cage and jabbed at the puck with his backhand, causing it to flutter up and strike off the stick of Penguins forward Connor Dewar before entering the cage. Forward Elias Pettersson and Kane claimed assists.

Blueger capped the scoring with his third goal at 14:00 of the final frame.

Accepting a pass near the right half-wall of the offensive zone, Garland backpedaled a bit to the near point and faked a slapper, only to pull his stick down and slip a pass to the top of the left circle, where Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek boomed a one-timer. Blueger planted himself above the blue paint and allowed the shot to deflect off his left shin. The puck then caromed off of Skinner’s left skate and bounded into the cage . Hronek and Garland had assists.

Notes:

• Rust received a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head of Canucks forward Brock Boeser following the conclusion of regulation. Rust’s right arm – either elbow or shoulder – appeared to make contact with Boeser’s jaw. Boeser left the ice in discomfort.

• Penguins defenseman Kris Letang rejoined the lineup after being scratched the previous two games due to an undisclosed injury.

• The Penguins have won three consecutive games against the Canucks. It is their longest active winning streak against any one opponent.

• Kindel scored a game-winning goal for the first time in his career.

• Before Sunday, Kindel last scored a goal in a 5-4 home overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Dec. 14.

• Letang, Malkin and Penguins forward Sidney Crosby skated in their 1,000th regular season game together.

• Penguins defensemen Connor Clifton and Ilya Solovyov, as well as forward Kevin Hayes, were healthy scratches.

• Blueger scored a goal for the first time in five career games against the Peguins. A second-round draft pick (No. 52 overall) in 2012, Blueger skated in 250 games for the Penguins and scored 92 points (33 goals, 59 assists).