The Pittsburgh Penguins scored a pair of goals in a short span in the second period, including the first career goal for Jean-Sebastien Dea, in a 3-1 victory against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Dominik Simon and Dea scored 76 seconds apart to take the Penguins from a deficit into the lead. Jake Guentzel added a third-period goal for Pittsburgh, which boosted its home-ice winning streak to four games.
Derek Ryan scored first for Carolina, beginning a stretch of three goals in a 2:05 span of the second period. The Penguins posted the other two goals.
Pittsburgh rookie goaltender Casey DeSmith made 34 saves, stopping at least 11 shots in each period. Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward was credited with 30 saves.
Sidney Crosby’s assist on Simon’s goal gave him 1,079 career points, tying him with Jaromir Jagr for second on the Penguins franchise all-time list.
Nine different Pittsburgh players were credited with one point in the game. That included right winger Phil Kessel, who notched his team-leading 34th assist.
Dea was playing in his fourth career game and third this season.
Carolina lost for the fourth time in five games.
This game was vastly different from Carolina’s 4-0 victory in the same building Jan. 4. The Hurricanes had won both previous meetings this season following Pittsburgh’s seven-game winning streak in the series.
These Metropolitan division teams have been jockeying for position away from the top of the standings for several weeks.
Ryan opened the scoring 7:14 into the second period, a much-needed boost for the Hurricanes after their miserable outing two nights earlier in a home loss to Vegas. It was Ryan’s first goal in January.
