PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins entered Sunday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with the top penalty kill in the NHL. They likely won’t hold that distinction Monday.

Carolina shredded Pittsburgh with three power-play goals in five attempts. Special teams did most of the damage in the Hurricanes’ 5-1 rout of the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

It was the third meeting between the Metropolitan Division rivals in less than two weeks. The Hurricanes won all three, though the first two ended after regulation.

Carolina was off Saturday, while Pittsburgh won a grueling game against Winnipeg in a shootout. Rest likely had something to do with the Hurricanes’ dominance Sunday. But the Penguins have a lot to clean up should they meet the Hurricanes in a playoff series.

Poor starts were a problem for the Penguins in their two recent overtime losses at Carolina. The Hurricanes again dominated the opening minutes of the game Sunday.

22 seconds in, Nikolaj Ehlers got loose on a breakaway. Stuart Skinner made the save, but Ryan Graves — back in the lineup for the first time in two months with Ryan Shea’s absence — was called for tripping.

The Hurricanes quickly capitalized on the ensuing power play. Sebastian Aho knocked down Erik Karlsson’s clear attempt with his hand and dished the puck to Seth Jarvis. Aho then got it back and scored from outside the left faceoff circle.

Aho’s shot hit Connor Dewar’s stick, changing the angle and making it far harder for Skinner to stop.

It took nearly 12 minutes for the Penguins to register a shot on goal. They spent much of the opening period hemmed in their own zone, but the deficit didn’t grow beyond one — in large part thanks to Skinner’s saves.

The Penguins goalie wasn’t able to bail out his team as much in the second period, and the Hurricanes’ lead ballooned.

Nikolaj Ehlers blasted a one-timer past Skinner on Carolina’s second power play of the game a little more than six minutes into the period.

And less than three minutes after that, Jalen Chatfield put the Penguins in real trouble with a rifle from the point that Skinner couldn’t locate with major pressure in front of the net.

The Hurricanes parked bodies in front of the Pittsburgh crease for much of the game.

That led to Carolina’s third successful power play — in three tries — later in the period. Working along the goal line, Ehlers dished a perfect pass to Jarvis in the slot, who hammered it home for a 4-0 Hurricanes lead entering the second intermission.

The period could have been even worse. Skinner had to sprawl out to save a series of shorthanded attempts on the Penguins’ lone complete power play of the game (Pittsburgh spent the final seconds on an abbreviated man-advantage).

Pittsburgh broke up Frederik Andersen’s shutout with about five minutes to play. Bryan Rust made a great feed to Egor Chinakhov, who scored his second goal in as many games from in tight.

Mark Jankowski added an empty-netter with just more than a minute remaining.

It was over when …

In many ways, Sunday’s game felt over in the opening minute. But Jarvis’ goal at the 17:20 mark of the second period was probably the true death knell.

Stat of the game

3-5: The Hurricanes’ power play efficiency. The Penguins’ penalty kill is sorely missing Blake Lizotte, one of the team’s shorthanded stalwarts all season. Lizotte is expected to miss essentially the remainder of the regular season with an upper-body injury.

Around the boards

— Rookie winger Ville Koivunen was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Sunday. With Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby returning, he’d been scratched the previous two games, so this will allow him to get continued playing time.

— The Penguins announced Sunday that they have signed Bill Zonnon, one of their three 2025 first-round draft picks, to an entry-level contract. Zonnon has put up 46 points in 35 games for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL.

— Shea missed the game with an upper-body injury. He got hit in the face during the second period Saturday against Winnipeg and went back to the locker room. He briefly skated out to start the third period with a full face shield on his helmet but never reentered the game.

Penguins coach Dan Muse designated Shea as day-to-day. Graves played his first NHL game since Jan. 21 in Shea’s absence.

Up next

The Penguins complete a three-game homestand 7 p.m. ET Tuesday against the top team in the NHL, the Colorado Avalanche.

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