Svechnikov scores in OT as Hurricanes rally past Penguins

RALEIGH, N.C. -- — Andrei Svechnikov scored on a power play at 3:14 of overtime as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from two goals down to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Friday night.

Jordan Staal scored two goals for the Hurricanes, who snapped a two-game skid and won for the fourth time in 16 chances (4-10-2) when trailing after two periods. Antti Raanta stopped 22 shots.

“We played our game, for sure, after the first period,” Svechnikov said.

Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who fell to 23-1-2 when leading through two periods. Casey DeSmith made 38 saves.

The Hurricanes earned a point in 10 straight games at home (9-0-1).

“(This game) was just a great effort by everybody,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “There was no passengers. Everyone was playing their hardest. It doesn’t always work out, but tonight I think we got what we deserved.”

Svechnikov’s 23rd goal of the season came after Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang went to the penalty box for slashing 2:47 into overtime. Letang and Carolina’s Vincent Trocheck were involved in that play.

“Kris has to keep his cool,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re going to call it the way they see it. I saw it differently.”

It was Svechnikov’s fifth game-winning goal of the season, including the fourth in the team’s last nine victories. He cleaned up the rebound of Teuvo Teravainen’s shot.

“That just happened pretty fast,” DeSmith said. “But 4-on-3s are tough.”

Both teams turned to their No. 2 goalies after playing road games Thursday night.

Guentzel scored 4:28 into the game with a redirection of Marcus Pettersson’s delivery.

Guentzel set up the next goal, with the Penguins going up 2-0 with 6:07 left in the period when his pass went through Carolina defenseman Brady Skjei’s legs on the way to Crosby. Crosby has scored in three consecutive games for the second time this season.

Staal’s first goal came after teammate Nino Niederreiter’s determined pursuit of the puck helped produce the goal. Staal was left alone in the slot to fire in the rebound at 4:20 of the second.

Staal redirected Ethan Bear’s shot for the tying goal with 10:12 left in regulation.

The Penguins were limited to five shots in the third period despite going on a power play with 2:09 remaining.

“We knew what we were up against,” Sullivan said. “I didn’t think we did as good of a job in the second and the third just controlling territory.”

SURGING STAAL

Staal, a decade removed from his time with the Penguins, has been on a scoring binge the past couple of weeks. He has five goals in the last seven games, scoring in every-other game during that stretch.

“They’re starting to go in,” Staal said. “It took long enough to get going.”

Before that, he had three goals in 46 games this season. The Carolina captain has scored in both games against Pittsburgh this season.

ROAD SHOW

Pittsburgh has points in nine of its last 10 road games. Playing at Tampa Bay and Carolina on consecutive nights pitted the Penguins against two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams.

“We got three out of four points,” Sullivan said. “We would have liked to get four.”

On Friday night, Penguins fans had a large presence in the arena. At one point, they were chanting DeSmith’s name.

“That was so cool,” he said.

WELCOME BACK

Pittsburgh forward Brock McGinn, who played his first six NHL seasons with the Hurricanes until a free-agent move last summer, was given a video recognition and a rousing ovation during a break in the first period.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host Florida on Tuesday night.

Hurricanes: Host Seattle on Sunday night.