Forward Jeff Carter scores twice as Penguins beat Avalanche

The Pittsburgh Penguins flew to Denver on Tuesday to get acclimated to the elevation of the Rocky Mountains.

Playing the defending Stanley Cup champions on their ice? That would require a whole other level of elevation by the Penguins.

They found a way to raise their game Wednesday as they engineered a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena.

Two goals by much-maligned forward Jeff Carter helped to claim a badly needed victory that snapped a four-game losing streak for the Penguins (35-26-10, 80 points), who inched ahead of the idle Florida Panthers (36-28-7, 79 points) for the final wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

It also snapped a six-game winning streak for the Avalanche.

“It’s a big game for us,” Carter said. “They’re the defending Stanley Cup champions and a team that’s been rolling pretty good. Hopefully this is a good confidence boost for us.”

It could especially be a confidence boost for goalie Tristan Jarry, who made 28 saves in one of his most effective outings in weeks. He was pulled from three of his previous seven starts.

“I want to be good every game. That’s my goal,” said Jarry, who fired wide on two attempts at an empty-net goal in the game’s waning moments. “Every chance that I’m in net, I want to give them a chance to win and I hope that they feel that way. It’s good to get the two points tonight.”

After a scoreless first period, a dazzling individual effort by forward Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins a lead 1 minute, 11 seconds into the second period.

Settling an airborne puck in front of the home penalty box, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel dished a pass to the offensive blue line for Crosby. Gaining the Colorado zone at the center point, Crosby twisted Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard out of his undergarments and lifted a dagger of a backhander from just inside the right circle that beat goaltender Alexandar Georgiev’s blocker on the far side for his 30th goal.

A five-on-three power-play goal by Guentzel, his 31st of the season, put the visitors up by a pair at 4:06 of the middle frame.

Corralling a clearing attempt at the center point of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin sauntered his way toward the left circle and then snapped a forehand shot/pass toward the cage. Guentzel, stationed just to the left of the crease, deflected the puck on net. As Georgiev made the initial save, Guentzel backhand-tapped the rebound out of the air by Georgiev’s glove on the far side.

A fierce forecheck resulted in Avalanche forward J.T. Compher’s 15th goal at 11:36 of the second.

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang tried to wrangle a puck dumped into his end boards but was hit by Avalanche forward Alex Newhook, creating a turnover. Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin swooped in from behind the cage to claim possession and slid a backhand pass to the front of the crease. Compher beat Crosby to the puck and jabbed a forehand shot past Jarry’s glove.

Carter scored a power-play goal at 14:12 of the second to restore a two-goal lead for his team.

From the right corner of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Jason Zucker backhanded a pass to the left circle for Penguins forward Bryan Rust. Fending off Avalanche defenseman Bo Byram and forward Matt Nieto, Rust dished a clever backhand pass low in the left circle for Carter, who leaned down and fired a forehand shot past Georgiev’s blocker on the near side for his 10th goal of the season and first score in 12 games.

The Avalanche made it a 3-2 contest with a power-play goal by defenseman Devon Toews at 10:28 of the third period.

Another goal by Carter secured victory at 12:51 of the final frame.

From the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin lobbed a wrister toward the front of the crease. Moving in from the right circle, Carter one-touched the puck past Georgiev’s right skate.

Rust capped the scoring with his 16th goal on an empty net at 19:41 of the third.

Coach Mike Sullivan called it one of the team’s better recent efforts.

“We were paying the price to win,” he said. “I thought some of the shot blocks late in the game were an indication of the urgency, the compete that we had tonight against a really good hockey team. I thought (Jarry) was terrific. He made some big saves at key times to help us maintain the lead. We got some big goals at key times from guys. I just thought, throughout the lineup, top to bottomn, guys competed hard.”