One streak came to an end for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

And another continued.

Their 4-1 road win against the rival Washington Capitals provided some badly needed salve for the Penguins as it halted an ugly seven-game losing streak, their largest such slump since February of 2006.

That triumph was provided in part by their penalty kill, which was perfect as it stopped the powerful Capitals’ power play on four attempts.

In the process, it extended a streak of not allowing an opposing power-play goal.

To two games.

OK, a pair of contests isn’t necessarily congruent with the traditional definition of a “streak.” But it marked the first time this season the Penguins have blanked opposing power-play units in consecutive games.

During a 3-2 home loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, the Penguins’ penalty killers were 3 for 3 in that contest.

“We did a good job tonight,” Penguins forward Brock McGinn said to media in Washington following Wednesday’s game. “We wanted to take away their strengths there, and I think we did a good job of that. We’ve just got to continue to keep working and keep getting better every single day.”

The Capitals entered Wednesday’s game with the NHL’s sixth-best power play, boasting a conversion rate of 27.1%.

As has been the case since he entered the NHL in 2005, superstar forward Alex Ovechkin largely has buoyed that success. And never more so than this season because the Capitals have been without the services of franchise pillars such as forward Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman John Carlson, each key components to the power play.

So with some spare parts filling in for the Capitals on the man advantage, the Penguins took advantage of the situation.

Not only did they blank the Capitals’ power play. They also scored the winning goal with a short-handed score at 12 minutes, 53 seconds of the second period.

Moving a puck up from his own zone, Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson encountered forechecking pressure from McGinn on Washington’s left half wall. That prompted Gustafsson to fling a poorly executed backhand pass towards the blue line to no one in particular.

Penguins forward Jeff Carter took the place of no one in particular and intercepted the pass like it was the Zimmermann Telegram. Making a furious effort to keep the puck inside the blue line, Carter dealt a forehand pass to McGinn in the slot.

Fending off Gustafsson and a backcheck from Capitals forward Dylan Strome, McGinn attacked the net by going backhand to forehand and flicking a wrister on net.

Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper appeared to make the save at first but, eventually, the puck slid across the goal line for the Penguins’ second short-handed goal of the season.

Forward Ryan Poehling scored the first in a 6-1 home win against the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 20.

Two games of perfect play don’t erase the struggles the Penguins saw in their first 11 contests on the penalty kill. Overall, they have a conversion rate of 75.6%, the 24th-best figure in the 32-NHL team through Wednesday’s games.

It remains a work in progress, especially because sturdy defensive center Teddy Blueger has yet to play in any games this season thanks to a lingering undisclosed ailment that has hobbled him since training camp.

But these two contests represent a step in the right direction.

“(Goaltender Casey DeSmith) made the saves when he had to,” Carter said to media in Washington in reference to Wednesday’s win. “(Defensemen) cleared pucks. Our forwards did a really good job of getting up ice and not letting them get into their setup in terms of their breakout and whatnot. If we want to win games, we’ve got to be a big part of it as a (penalty-kill) group.”

Note: The Penguins canceled a scheduled practice in Toronto on Thursday.

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