Penguins fall to Hurricanes on road again

Up until recently, a Pittsburgh-rooted institution had owned the naming rights to the home venue of the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. for 12 years.

But in August, the PNC Arena morphed into the Lenovo Center.

Yet, regardless of the corporate logo affixed to the front of the building, the Hurricanes have owned the Penguins within the confines of the facility in recent years.

That trend held firm Thursday as the Hurricanes defeated the Penguins, 5-1, extending a streak of futility for the visitors to seven games (0-4-3) in the City of Oaks.

The Penguins’ last road win against this Metropolitan Division foe was a 3-0 triumph on Dec. 22, 2019.

Further amplifying the Penguins’ malaise, forward Cody Glass did not record a shift beyond the 19-minute mark of the first period. Per one of the team’s social media accounts, he suffered an undisclosed injury.

Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped only 13 of 18 shots as his record slipped to 2-3-2.

Within the context of the ongoing season, the Hurricanes saw a winning streak grow to eight games.

To some degree, the Penguins had firm control of this contest as they posted a healthy 36 shots on Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov.

“It (stinks),” Nedeljkovic said to reporters in Raleigh via audio provided by the team’s media relations staff. “It’s a (cruddy) feeling. The difference in the game was their (goaltender) was that much better than I was. We dominated in their end a lot.”

It took the Hurricanes all of 52 seconds to open the scoring when forward Jordan Martinook found his second goal on his team’s first shot of the game.

Following a neutral zone turnover by Penguins forward Lars Eller, Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis accepted the charity in front of the home bench and dished a forehand pass toward the center red line for Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield, who then offloaded the puck to former Penguins forward Jordan Staal, allowing him to make an offensive zone entry on the right wing. As Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson maintained a sound gap against Staal, his defensive partner, Erik Karlsson, lost track of Martinook hustling in from the left wing. That led to Staal slipping a sharp pass below the lower left hashmark where Martinook deflected in a forehand shot over Nedeljkovic’s blocker on the near side. Staal and Chatfield had assists.

Carolina goal!

Scored by Jordan Martinook with 19:08 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Jordan Staal and Jalen Chatfield.

Carolina: 1
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/VWBt6cCdXo

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

The Hurricanes’ third shot resulted in forward Jack Roslovic’s eighth goal at 8:47 of the first period.

With Karlsson skating backward in the neutral zone with no discernible pursuit, Roslovic banked a puck off the boards near the visiting penalty box, providing linemate Sebastian Aho a chance to gain the offensive zone on the left wing. With Pettersson looking overwhelmed as he tried to defend what had turned into a three-on-one rush, Aho centered the puck to the slot for Roslovic, who pumped a wrister by Nedeljkovic’s blocker. Aho and defenseman Dmitry Orlov accrued assists.

Carolina goal!

Scored by Jack Roslovic with 11:13 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Sebastian Aho and Dmitry Orlov.

Carolina: 2
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/pRuLjxF3g9

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

Roslovic struck again at 9:26 of the second period.

Beating Penguins forward Drew O’Connor to a loose puck on the right half wall of the Penguins’ zone, Chatfield one-touched a pass to Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov, who circled from the near corner to the right circle and slid a pass to the opposite circle. From there, Roslovic gripped and ripped a wrister by Nedeljkovic’s glove on the far side. Svechnikov and Chatfield claimed assists.

Carolina goal!

Scored by Jack Roslovic with 10:33 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Andrei Svechnikov and Jalen Chatfield.

Carolina: 3
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/d2n4MO7Pul

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

The Hurricanes poured it on when defenseman Jaccob Slavin scored his first goal at 13:52 of the middle frame.

From behind the Penguins’ net, Aho banked a pass off the left half-wall to the left point for Slavin, who wound up and chopped a one-timer to the near side by Nedeljkovic’s blocker. Penguins forward Sidney Crosby and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk possibly served as inadvertent screens on the sequence. Aho and Roslovic registered assists.

Carolina goal!

Scored by Jaccob Slavin with 06:08 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Sebastian Aho and Jack Roslovic.

Carolina: 4
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/EXbeCvHcNX

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

The sluice gates opened 127 seconds into the third period when forward Eric Robinson scored his third goal.

After entering the offensive zone on the right wing with speed, Chatfield left a drop pass for Hurricanes forward Martin Necas. Surveying the scene for a moment, Necas identified a gulf of a passing lane between Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea and forward Jesse Puljujarvi and dished the puck to top of the crease. Hustling in from the left wing, Robinson shuffled in a forehand shot by Nedeljkovic’s charred blocker. Necas and Chatfield had assists.

Carolina goal!

Scored by Eric Robinson with 17:53 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Martin Necas and Jalen Chatfield.

Carolina: 5
Pittsburgh: 0#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/ha1GIKJckh

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

Penguins forward Blake Lizotte got his team on the scoreboard at 5:08 of the third via his second goal.

Settling a bouncing puck in the Hurricanes’ right circle, Puljujarvi whipped a low wrister on net. Kochetkov made the initial save but had trouble containing the rebound. Chatfield cleared the rebound from the blue paint with the backhand of his stick but dealt something of a pass to the hashmarks for Lizotte, who leaned on his left knee and fired a wrister into a mostly vacant cage. There were no assists.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Blake Lizotte with 14:52 remaining in the 3rd period.

Carolina: 5
Pittsburgh: 1#PITvsCAR #RaiseUp #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/p4CYYBMy1i

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 8, 2024

“I think we had a lot of guys that played really hard and didn’t get rewarded for their efforts,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think there were a few guys that didn’t live up to the expectation. It’s hard. We need everybody to bring it every night to give us the best chance to win.”

Notes:

• The Penguins’ power-play was 0 for 3 with 8:00 of time on the man advantage. They generated 10 shots during those power-play sequences.

• Penguins forward Sidney Crosby had a four-game scoring streak halted.

• Penguins forward Kevin Hayes was scratched for the first time this season due to an undisclosed injury. Prior to the game, Sullivan labeled Hayes as “day to day.”

• The Penguins’ seven-game road losing streak against the Hurricanes is their longest active streak within those parameters. Their second longest active road losing streaks are a pair of four-game stretches against the Calgary Flames (0-2-2) and Edmonton Oilers (0-4-0).

• Shea returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the seven previous games.

• Penguins rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany was a healthy scratch.

• In two games against the Penguins this season, Roslovic has four points (three goals, one assist). No player has scored more points against the Penguins this season than Roslovic.

• Necas extended a scoring streak to eight games.