Brian Boyle of the Penguins puts the puck past Carolina goalie Antti Raanta in the first period of Pittsburgh’s 4-2 win Sunday afternoon. Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Brian Boyle, Danton Heinen and Zach Aston-Reese scored to take some of the pressure off Sidney Crosby, Tristan Jarry stopped 41 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins edged the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Sunday.
Crosby scored an empty-netter to reach the 20-goal plateau for the 14th time as the Penguins beat the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes for the first time in three tries, thanks in part to the secondary scoring that’s been lacking in recent weeks.
Pittsburgh General Manager Ron Hextall urged his role players to get to the front of the net in an effort to shake out of the doldrums. Boyle and Heinen responded by scoring from a combined 6 feet from the net, and Aston-Reese’s tap-in empty-netter with 12 seconds left sealed it.
Brett Pesce scored his fifth of the season and Sebastian Aho added his 27th, but Carolina lost in regulation for just the second time in its last 12 games (9-2-1). Antti Raanta finished with 19 saves but had no real chance at stopping either of the two he let in.
The Penguins are trying to figure out if they need to trade for another winger with a scoring touch, something lacking recently outside the top line of Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust.
That may be turning around.
The 6-foot-6 Boyle somehow snuck in front of the Carolina crease undetected late in the first period, took a feed from behind the net by Teddy Blueger and powered a one-timer past Raanta to give Pittsburgh the lead. It was his seventh goal of the season and first in a month.
Heinen picked up his second goal in four games 11:14 into the second by skating in front and redirecting Mike Matheson’s point shot.
Pesce’s shot from high in the slot cut the lead to 4-1 and set off a frenzied third period in which the Hurricanes titled the ice heavily in Pittsburgh’s end for long stretches. Jarry stood his ground and relaxed when Crosby’s empty-net goal with 1:39 left made it 3-1.
Aho scored 14 seconds later to make it 3-2 before Aston-Reese chased down a loose puck and sent it into the empty net for his second goal of the season.
SABRES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2: Vinnie Hinostroza had two goals and an assist, Peyton Krebs also scored twice and Buffalo defeated Toronto in the Heritage Classic outdoor game at Hamilton, Ontario.
Tage Thompson added an empty-net goal and Craig Anderson made 36 saves at a windy Tim Horton Field, home of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 45th goal.
BLUE JACKETS 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4: Eighteen-year-old rookie Cole Sillinger recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career, Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves and Columbus won at home.
Sillinger, the league’s youngest player who has eight goals in his first 56 games, scored once in the first period and twice in the second, with Oliver Bjorkstrand assisting both times.
Bjorkstrand had a goal of his own, and Patrik Laine tied the team lead with his 23rd of the season.
JETS 4, BLUES 3: Pierre Luc-Dubois scored in overtime and Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves in Winnipeg’s victory at St. Louis.
The Jets broke a two-game losing streak and have won 10 of their last 12 games in St. Louis. The Blues have lost five of seven.
Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele scored 1:03 seconds apart in the third period to give the Jets a 3-2 lead Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Winnipeg, which improved to 4-17-2 when trailing after two periods.
David Perron, Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for St. Louis.
CANADIENS 4, FLYERS 3: Cole Caufield scored 2:10 into overtime to give Montreal a comeback victory at Philadelphia in a matchup of last-place clubs.
Rem Pitlick tied it for Montreal with 42.1 seconds left in regulation with a short-handed goal. Montreal snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 8-6 under interim coach Martin St. Louis.
Montreal’s Nick Suzuki scored twice, with Chris Wideman assisting on both goals.
Claude Giroux scored for Philadelphia to reach 900 career points.
PREDATORS 6, WILD 2: Roman Josi scored twice to establish a career high with 17 goals, and Nashville spoiled the start of Minnesota’s franchise-record nine-game homestand.
Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist, Philip Tomasino added a goal and an assist and Nick Cousins had a goal and two assists for Nashville (34-21-4), which tied Minnesota (34-20-4) for third place in the Central Division.
ISLANDERS 4, DUCKS 3: Kyle Palmieri scored twice, Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves and New York capped a six-game homestand by beating Anaheim for its third straight win.
Palmieri and Anders Lee scored 25 seconds apart late in the first period to send the Islanders into the intermission with a 3-1 lead before Palmieri added his ninth of the season at 17:25 of the second.
AVALANCHE 3, FLAMES 0: Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, Darcy Kuemper stopped a career-best 46 shots in his fourth shutout of the season and Colorado won in Denver.
It was a measure of atonement for Kuemper, who was pulled early in the second period last weekend when the top two teams in the Western Conference faced each other in Calgary’s 4-3 overtime win.
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