Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel both scored twice and Pittsburgh’s beleaguered power play showed signs of life as the Penguins slipped past the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Pittsburgh scored twice with the man advantage while ending an 0-for-37 drought that stretched over a month.
Jake Guentzel scored the Penguins’ first power-play goal in 31 days when he beat Carter Ingram just over a minute into the game and added an empty-netter from his belly to seal it.
Carter deflected Kris Letang’s point shot past Ingram 4:32 into the third to give Pittsburgh the lead for good as the Penguins ended a four-game losing streak. Carter, relegated to the fourth line in his 19th season, scored the 20th short-handed goal of his career in the first period.
Tristan Jarry made 19 saves as the Penguins pulled away from the Coyotes, playing for the third time in four nights on the road.
Lawson Crouse scored his 13th of the season for Arizona and added an assist on Matias Maccelli’s power-play goal. Ingram stopped 40 shots but let Carter’s deflection sneak by him as the Coyotes lost their 11th consecutive game to Pittsburgh.
Arizona rookie forward Logan Cooley, a Pittsburgh native who took up the game by as a 5-year-old by participating in a “Little Penguins” program run by franchise icon Sidney Crosby, skated 16:26 in his return to his hometown.
The Penguins came in riding a 3-6-3 funk since Nov. 16, fueled in part by their star-laden power play’s inability to find the back of the net, with players passing up open shots.
First-year general manager Kyle Dubas expressed optimism on Monday even with Pittsburgh closer to the bottom of the Eastern Conference than a playoff spot. Dubas gave longtime coach Mike Sullivan a vote of confidence, calling him the right man to help steer the injury-riddled and underachieving Penguins back into contention.
It did not take long for Guentzel to end Pittsburgh’s long power-play drought, taking a pass from behind the net by Crosby and beating Ingram from in close 1:12 into the game.
Arizona scored twice on the power play, with Crouse taking a cross-ice pass from former Penguin Jason Zucker and chipping it past Jarry 10:20 into the first. Maccelli pounced on a loose puck in front of the Pittsburgh net and jammed the puck into the net to put the Coyotes in front.
Carter pulled the Penguins even later in the first period by breaking in alone on Ingram and beating him with a backhand.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Begin a three-game homestand on Friday when San Jose visits.
Penguins: Travel to Montreal on Wednesday.
