PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Murray stopped 37 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins inched closer to a playoff berth with a 3-1 win over Carolina on Sunday night.

Matt Cullen, at 42 the NHL’s oldest player, had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh. Garrett Wilson collected his first goal in nearly two months and Patric Hornqvist added his first even-strength score since early January. Murray did the rest while as the Penguins took a major step toward assuring itself of a spot in the postseason for the 13th consecutive year, the longest active streak in the league

Pittsburgh needs just two points over its final three games or a loss by Montreal to lock up a playoff spot.

Carolina’s bid to reach the postseason for the first time in a decade took a hit. The Hurricanes have 93 points with a week to go in the regular season, just one point ahead of the ninth-place Canadiens.

Jacob Slavin’s power-play goal with just under 8 minutes to go spoiled Murray’s bid for a shutout but by then the Penguins were firmly in control. Curtis McElhinney finished with 25 saves while losing for the third time in four starts.

Playing without injured stars Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the Penguins relied on their depth and the kind of defensive grit they’ve lacked at times this season. Carolina came in leading the NHL in shots per game (34.5), but could get little going in front of Murray until it trailed by three.

Wilson put the Penguins in front just past the midway point of the first period, crashing the net following a feed by Cullen from the corner and then jabbing at the puck until it emerged from a pile of bodies in front of McElhinney and slid across the goal line.

Cullen, playing in his 1,513th career game — one shy of tying Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman for 19th on the NHL’s all-time games played list — doubled Pittsburgh’s advantage late in the first period when he and Olli Maatta broke in on McElhinney 2 on 1. Rather than slip the pass to his teammate, Cullen zipped a wrist shot from the right circle that sailed over McElhinney’s right arm and into the net for his seventh of the season.

Hornqvist, who left briefly in the first period when his head hit the boards while getting checked by Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton, earned a measure of revenge 46 seconds into the third period when he collected a blind backhanded drop pass from Dominik Simon and beat McElhinney from the bottom of the right circle. The goal was Hornqvist’s 18th of the year and his first non-power play tally since Jan. 6.

Carolina mustered little in response.

The Hurricanes didn’t reach double digits on the shot counter until past the game’s midway point as the Penguins clogged the shooting lanes. When Carolina did manage to find some space, Murray either came up with the stop or the Hurricanes couldn’t get the bounce they needed. Sebastien Aho hit the post from the left circle in the second period and when the Hurricanes did finally get it going midway through the final period, it was too late.

Slavin’s seventh of the season provided a bit of life, but Pittsburgh withstood a push over the final minutes to all but assure itself of a chance to make a run at its third Stanley Cup in four seasons.

NOTES: Letang, Malkin, F Zach Aston-Reese and D Chad Ruhwedel all skated on Sunday morning but remain out with injuries. … The Hurricanes went 1 for 2 on the power play. The Penguins were 0 for 1. … The teams split the season series 2-2. … Pittsburgh rookie Adam Johnson picked up the first two assists of his career.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Visit Toronto on Tuesday.

Penguins: Begin a home-and-home series with the Red Wings on Tuesday in Detroit.

 

 

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pekka Rinne stopped 42 shots to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.

Rinne was 63 seconds from his fifth shutout of the season when Nick Bjugstad scored for Pittsburgh.

It was the second game in eight days between the teams and a rematch of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, won by Pittsburgh in six games.

Viktor Arvidsson’s 32nd goal of the season – a power-play goal – set a career high and also was the 100th of his NHL career. Craig Smith and P.K. Subban also scored for the Predators, who moved into a first-place tie in the Central Division. Nashville, which clinched its fifth straight playoff berth Monday, has won five of seven after losing four of its previous six.

Matt Murray made 23 saves for the Penguins, whose three-game winning streak ended. Pittsburgh, which had a chance to tie the New York Islanders for second in the Metropolitan Division, came in having won 10 of 15 games and earned points in 14 of 16.

Rinne won for the first time in Pittsburgh and defeated the Penguins for just the second time in 10 career regular-season starts. In six previous career starts in Pittsburgh, including the playoffs, Rinne was 0-6-0 with a 5.14 goals-against average and a .822 save percentage. He allowed three goals or more in every other appearance in Pittsburgh.

Rinne allowed 12 goals and made just 34 saves during three 2017 Stanley Cup Final in Pittsburgh. He was strong on Friday, stopping 22 first-period shots. Rinne has eight wins and one shutout in his last 13 starts total. The 2018 Vezina Trophy winner recorded his 27th win of the season.

Pittsburgh outshot Nashville 22-11 in the first period, but the Predators held a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes thanks to Rinne. It was the fourth time this season the Penguins recorded 20 or more shots in a period.

Smith scored the lone goal of the period for Nashville when he deflected Matt Irwin’s point shot behind Murray.

Arvidsson scored a power-play goal from inside the top of the left circle at 17:36 of the second period to put Nashville in front by two goals. Ryan Johansen had an assist on the goal to become the second player in team history to record a 50-assist season.

NOTES: Nashville won at Pittsburgh for the first time since Feb. 1, 2015. … D Olli Maatta returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. … F Evgeni Malkin (upper body), D Kris Letang (upper body) and D Chad Ruhwedel skated on Friday morning, but did not play against Nashville. … Nashville recalled G Troy Grosenick on an emergency basis from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League because of an illness to G Juuse Saros. … Smith joins Filip Forsberg as the only players in Predators history to record five 20-goal seasons. Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel played in his 200th NHL game.

UP NEXT

Predators: Host Columbus on Saturday.

Penguins: Welcome Carolina on Sunday.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Teddy Blueger scored two goals, Matt Murray made 33 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins surged to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers on Monday night.

Justin Schultz, Nick Bjugstad and Matt Cullen also scored for Pittsburgh. Phil Kessel and Marcus Pettersson each added two assists.

Murray improved to 6-0-0 against the Rangers in the regular season and 5-0-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh pulled into a tie with the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division with 95 points. Both teams trail Washington by one point for first.

Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri scored for the Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev, coming off a 44-save effort in a 2-1 overtime win Saturday night at Toronto, stopped 31 shots.

Trailing 2-1, the Penguins roared back with three goals in the second.

They tied the game 61 seconds into the period on the power play. Sidney Crosby had the puck behind the Rangers net and sent a pass to Schultz, who one-timed it past Georgiev for his second of the season.

Cullen gave the Penguins their first lead when he sent a high shot past Georgiev’s left shoulder at 7:17.

Later in the period, with the Penguins killing a penalty, Blueger skated in on a break and sent a pass to Bryan Rust. The puck deflected behind the net and Rust sent a pass to Blueger, who scored on a backhand for his fifth of the season at 13:12 to make it 4-2.

Blueger added his second of the game at 7:38 of the third. Jared McCann sent a shot at the net and Blueger got enough of the rebound to put it in for his sixth of the season. The goal withstood a replay challenge for offside.

The Rangers, who will miss the playoffs and are playing out the string, got off to a fast start in the opening period.

Mika Zibanejad skated into the zone and sent a pass to Pavel Buchnevich at the left faceoff circle. Buchnevich quickly sent a cross-ice pass to Lemieux, who wristed it past Murray for his 12th of the season at 8:25. The goal was Lemieux’s third with New York since being acquired at the trade deadline from Winnipeg.

The Rangers made it 2-0 on the power play when Lettieri fired a one-timer from the left faceoff circle past Murray at 15:15 for his first goal of the season.

Just 26 seconds later, Bjugstad got the Penguins on the board when he scored his 12th of the season. He got a loose puck and squeezed it through Georgiev’s pads to make it 2-1.

NOTES: Penguins center Evgeni Malkin remains out with an upper-body injury. He hasn’t played since March 16 against St. Louis. … D Kris Letang missed the game with an upper-body injury. His status is day to day. Zach Trotman replaced him in the lineup. … Rangers forward Jesper Fast will miss the rest of the season because of an injury. D Marc Staal was out with a lower-body injury and forward Chris Kreider is day to day after missing Saturday’s win at Toronto.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host the Nashville Predators on Friday night.

Rangers: At the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

 

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DALLAS (AP) — Jared McCann scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on a spinning short-handed play in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday night.

McCann has 11 goals in 26 games since coming over in a trade with Florida, and now leads the Penguins with three short-handed goals. He has four overall this season.

The Penguins stayed even with the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division with 93 points, a point behind Washington.

The Stars finished a five-game homestand with their fourth loss, three in regulation. Dallas holds the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference by two points over Colorado with Minnesota a point behind the Avalanche.

Dallas was looking for its first lead after Jack Johnson was called for holding and the Penguins were just trying to clear the puck when Teddy Blueger poked it away from John Klingberg at center ice. McCann took the pass as he was spinning and flipped the puck over Anton Khudobin.

Matt Murray, who made 29 saves, kept the Penguins in front by stopping a shot from Tyler Seguin and keeping the puck between his legs behind him as he was sprawled on the ice with Alexander Radulov trying to poke it into the net.

The Stars had a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 80 seconds after Bryan Rust was called for holding, but couldn’t get one past Murray. Khudobin had 27 saves.

Jake Guentzel opened the scoring with his team-leading 38th goal for Pittsburgh in the first period.

The Stars scored two tying goals in the second. Seguin easily beat Murray on a cross-ice feed from Radulov barely a minute into the period. Andrew Cogliano pulled Dallas even at 2-2 with 80 seconds left by beating Murray in transition after taking a pass in stride from Klingberg.

The Penguins had a goal waved off in the second period when Teddy Blueger was called for goalie interference Erik Gudbranson’s shot from outside the circle. Gudbranson’s chance came after a wild scramble in front of the net ended with Taylor Fedun sweeping the puck out the crease when Khudobin was beaten.

NOTES: Stars D Jamie Oleksiak was a healthy scratch in his first game against Pittsburgh since the Penguins traded him back to Dallas in January. The Stars sent Oleksiak to the Penguins in December 2017. Both deals involved a fourth-round pick. … Not long after scoring the game’s first goal, Guentzel was stopped on a one-timer right in front of Khudobin. … Stars F Jason Spezza was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Finish four-game trip Monday at the New York Rangers.

Stars: Start four-game Canadian swing Monday at Winnipeg.