Crosby scores his 19th of the season, adds shootout winner as Penguins edge Hurricanes 2-1

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby scored his 19th goal of the season in regulation and then beat Pyotr Kochetkov in a shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Thursday night.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves and turned away all three Carolina attempts in the shootout as the Penguins beat the Hurricanes for just the third time in 13 meetings.

Teuvo Teravainen scored his 12th of the season for the Hurricanes. Kochetkov stopped 24 shots and Carolina's penalty kill turned away all five Pittsburgh opportunities with the man advantage, including one in overtime. Yet Kochetkov couldn't get his glove on Crosby's wrist shot from in close in the shootout as the Penguins won for the fourth time in five games.

The Hurricanes came in with some momentum following an iffy start. Carolina came in with points in each of its last five games to drift toward the top of the logjam in the middle of the Eastern Conference as Christmas approaches.

It's a logjam the Penguins have been looking up at for most of the season, though there have been signs of late that they are settling into the more conservative, defensively responsible approach head coach Mike Sullivan is trying to get them to play consistently.

For teams with such dynamic players atop their lineup, scoring chances were hard to come by early. Rickard Rakell — stuck in a goal-less drought that reaches to April — nearly broke through with a nifty backhand in the first period that deflected off the post.

Rakell set up Crosby minutes later with a beautiful spinning backhand pass that found Crosby streaking across the goal mouth. Crosby's deflection caught Kochtkov off guard and flicked into the net to give Pittsburgh the lead 8:51 into the game.

Carolina started to turn the pressure up in the middle of the second period, pinning the Penguins in their end while generating opportunities around Nedeljkovic. Tervainen finally broke through with more than a little help from Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang, who saw Tervainen's centering pass smack off his skate and into the Pittsburgh net to tie it 14:52 into the second.

The tempo finally turned up over the final period and into overtime, but the Penguins couldn't find a way to sneak a shot past Kochetkov, who got help from a post on a blast by Crosby in the waning seconds that deflected off the iron and out of harm's way.

UP NEXT Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Penguins: Travel to Ottawa on Saturday.

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