Jason Zucker corrected himself.

When asked for something of a scouting report on the Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, the rambunctious Pittsburgh Penguins forward stopped to edit himself.

“We haven’t played well against Carolina this year,” Zucker said before pausing. “Well, I shouldn’t say we haven’t played well. We haven’t had success against them. It’s going to be a big game for us. We need to be ready to come after them.”

In the final meeting of the regular season between the foes, the Penguins continued that trend as they fell to the Hurricanes in a competitive 2-1 loss Saturday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C.

The Penguins finished their regular-season series against the Hurricanes with an 0-2-2 record.

Scoring was opened 17 minutes, 2 seconds into regulation by Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei’s ninth goal of the season. Corralling a puck at the right point of the offensive zone, defenseman Brett Pesce slid a pass to Skjei above the left circle. Surveying the scene, Skjei avoided a block attempt by Penguins forward Rickard Rakell and uncorked a far-side wrister from the top of the circle that beat goaltender Casey DeSmith’s glove. Pesce and forward Jordan Martinook had assists.

Another goal by a defenseman, Jalen Chatfield, put the Hurricanes up by two at 9:14 of the second period. Digging a puck out of a battle on the Penguins’ end boards, Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho worked his way along the right wing wall, fending off Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph. Drawing in former Hurricanes forward Brock McGinn, Aho slipped a pass to Chatfield, who clapped a one-timer from the high slot over DeSmith’s blocker for his fourth goal. Aho and forward Jesper Fast tallied assists.

The Penguins had a wonderful opportunity to get on the scoreboard during a lengthy five-on-three power-play opportunity that lasted 1:34 beginning in the second period and extending into the third period. But the Penguins could muster only two shots on three shot attempts.

A considerably charitable — and/or imbecilic — moment by Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen at 7:48 of the third period led to the Penguins’ only goal.

During a power-play opportunity, Penguins forward Jake Guentzel lobbed a wrister from the left point of the offensive zone that was gloved by Andersen. Instead of freezing the puck, Andersen tried to swat the puck out of the air and up ice with his stick. The puck sailed approximately a single foot as it struck the shaft of Rakell’s stick and deflected into the net. Rakell was credited with his 15th goal. There were no assists, though Andersen could have made a case for one.

DeSmith’s record fell to 5-9-2 after making 34 saves on 36 shots.

Saturday’s result marked the second time the Penguins were swept by the Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers franchise in a regular-season series. During the 1986-87 campaign, the Whalers, led by future Penguins forward Ron Francis, won all three meetings against the Penguins, then paced by a 21-year-old forward named Mario Lemieux.

In their lone meeting of the 2019-20 campaign, the Penguins were defeated by the Hurricanes. The final three contests between the two teams scheduled for that season were canceled because of the pandemic.

Notes:

• In a really unique moment, Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns won the opening faceoff of the third period against Penguins forward Sidney Crosby.

With the Penguins starting the period on the remainder of their five-on-three power-play opportunity, Aho was chased out of the circle by referee Justin St. Pierre. Burns and defenseman Jaccob Slavin were the only other non-goaltenders on the ice for the Hurricanes so Burns, a former winger, opted to take the draw and won it fairly convincingly against Crosby, one of the better faceoff specialists in the NHL.

• Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson was scratched for the second consecutive game due to illness. Speaking with media that traveled to Raleigh, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan indicated Pettersson did not travel with the team.

• Defenseman Taylor Fedun was the Penguins’ lone healthy scratch.

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