Acquired in a Dec. 12 trade, 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.
Each 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.
Stopping 27 of 28 shots, Skinner lifted his record with the Penguins to 1-3-0. Acquired from the Edmonton Oilers earlier this month, Skinner’s overall mark on the season improved to 12-11-4.
“It’s been a couple weeks being here,” Skinner said. “So it felt really good to finally get the first one.”
Getting a win against the Hurricanes, who have largely tormented the Penguins in recent years, was a good feeling as well. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Penguins have won only four of 15 games (4-6-5) against their Metropolitan Division foe.
“They’ve been at the top of the division for a couple of years in a row,” said Penguins forward Anthony Mantha, who had two goals. “You just know that it’s a hard game against them. So, we were ready. Obviously, Stu made some great saves for us.”
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. Rakell and Rust had assists.
After going without a point in the past three meetings against the Carolina Hurricanes (entirety of last season), Sidney Crosby has put puck to net
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) December 31, 2025
It's his 68th career point against the Canes, and his 21st goal of the season#CarolinaCulture #LetsGoPens #NHL pic.twitter.com/LboIFnelk5
Penguins forward Justin Brazeau established a new 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.
Justin Brazeau went down, but he wasn't giving up!
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) December 31, 2025
In his last game he notched his first career NHL hat-trick, and tonight he authors an absolutely INSANE highlight reel goal to get the Penguins ahead by two!#CarolinaCulture #LetsGoPens #NHL pic.twitter.com/BqecF6c94J
It was the fourth goal in two games for Brazeau, who had his first career hat trick Sunday in a 7-3 road win against the Blackhawks.
“(Kulak) made a great look to me,” Brazeau said. “It was kind of a lucky one. Just chipped it and got a lucky one in.”
The Penguins’ good fortune continued only a mere 65 seconds later when 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. Rust and Karlsson collected assists.
The numbers didn't lie tonight as Anthony Mantha scored the Pens' third goal in the first period
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) December 31, 2025
Pittsburgh Penguins PP%: 29.70 (3rd in NHL, 4.70 ahead of 4th)
Carolina Hurricanes PK%: 80.19 (16th in NHL, 0.19 ahead of 17th)#CarolinaCulture #LetsGoPens #NHL pic.twitter.com/w9EmxcySIL
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. Wotherspoon and Karlsson collected assists.
Tommy Novak made it 4-0 with right under five minutes left in the second period#CarolinaCulture #LetsGoPens #NHL pic.twitter.com/ehDqoRQe08
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) December 31, 2025
Exactly three minutes later, Mantha found the net again.
From the defensive blue line, Novak snapped a stretch pass across the ice, allowing Mantha entry into the offensive zone on the right wing. Maneuvering above the near circle, Mantha fed the puck across the ice for Brazeau, who immediately dished it to the top of the crease, where a rushing Mantha deflected a backhand shot by Andersen’s leaky glove. Brazeau and Novak nabbed assists.
Anthony Mantha - Pittsburgh Penguins (14) pic.twitter.com/6a65lTaOa6
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) December 31, 2025
“We did a great cross ice,” Mantha said. “Kind of created a two-on-two. (Brazeau) let go, and I tried to beat that guy one-on-one. He just gave me a perfect dish for a redirect there. So, great play all around.”
Ex-Penguins forward Mark Jankowski accounted for the Hurricanes’ only offense with his second goal only 13 seconds afterward.
Off the ensuing faceoff, Hurricanes rookie defenseman Joel Nystrom fired a stretch pass from his blue line to Jankowski as he gained the Penguins’ zone on the right wing. Generating a two-on-one rush with Carrier against Karlsson, Jankowski elected to shoot and roofed a wrister past Skinner’s glove. Nystrom and defensive partner Mike Reilly registered assists.
MARK JANKOWSKI! MARK FREAKIN' JANKOWSKI!
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) December 31, 2025
Okay, it's still 5-1, but at least the Carolina Hurricanes have some sparkles in their step now
(BTDubs, the Pittsburgh Penguins lead the league in blown leads in the third period, for what it's worth...)#CarolinaCulture #LetsGoPens #NHL pic.twitter.com/4S9aWUPnWP
Any notion — or, more appropriately, nightmare — of the Penguins yielding another multi-goal lead in the third period — as has occurred far too often this month — was not to be as they largely bolted the game down. The Hurricanes had a lead in shots over the final 20 minutes, but it was only an 8-6 advantage.
The Penguins didn’t exactly collapse into a defensive shell, but they certainly didn’t keep the afterburners on offensively.
A balance was established over the final frame, allowing them to secure victory.
“When you get up a lead like that, you’re obviously doing something right,” Brazeau said. “It’s trying to make sure you’re doing a lot of the same things. Obviously, you don’t want to be risking too many things, but you get up to a lead for a reason. You don’t want to stop playing. Teams are too good if you sit back. They’re obviously going to come at you.
“Continue to do a lot of the same things.”
Presumably, Skinner would like to continue operating with a lead and winning.
STUUUUUUU (x2) ????️
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) December 31, 2025
Skinner is having a GAME ???? https://t.co/aFaX1p2xhX pic.twitter.com/2d4v9S5PeM
“He’s a competitor,” coach Dan Muse said. “He’s shown that in every practice and every game. He played really well there tonight. He had to come up with some big saves and some of those saves came at really critical moments in the game as well. Overall, we did a better job in front of him tonight, too. It was a combination of both things, but his game was on.
“There was some really big saves there. The timing of the saves were huge as well.”
Notes:
• Skinner became the 63rd goaltender to record a regular season win for the Penguins.
• Karlsson (137 points) surpassed forward Stu Barnes (136) and defenseman Zarley Zalapski (135) for 69th place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• Brazeau’s previous career high of 11 goals was established last season over 76 games split between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild. He established his new career high in only his 24th game of this season.
• The Penguins enjoyed the only two power-play opportunities in the game, going 1 for 2.
• As noted by Penguins historian Bob Grove, Rust is the team’s leading scorer since Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 26). In 17 games, he has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists).
• Kulak, who was also traded from the Oilers on Dec. 12, recorded his first point as a member of the Penguins.
• Penguins forwards Yegor Chinakhov and Kevin Hayes, as well as defenseman Connor Clifton, were healthy scratches.
Chinakhov was acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday and traveled to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, arriving just as the morning skate in Cranberry concluded. Management opted to scratch him to allow him to acclimate to his new surroundings.
