Penguins, facing banged-up Hurricanes, chase rare win streak

The Penguins are looking for their first winning streak in nearly a month, but to get it on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, they will need to take down the first-place Carolina Hurricanes.

Pittsburgh came out of the holiday break to record a 7-3 road victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, spurred by a four-goal outburst in the first period. Justin Brazeau got the first hat trick of his career while Bryan Rust scored twice for the Penguins, who entered the hiatus having lost nine of their past 10 games (1-5-4).

Defenseman Erik Karlsson did not practice with the team on Monday. That comes after the three-time Norris Trophy winner, who leads the Penguins with 23 assists this season, played only 15:49 over 16 shifts in the Sunday win. The 35-year-old veteran, who averages a team-high 23:55 on the ice for skaters, did not play in the final nine minutes, when the game was well in hand.

Penguins coach Dan Muse told reporters after the Monday practice that the move was precautionary for Karlsson, who has the NHL's 15th-longest active streak for games played with 283. However, he has only one point, an assist, in his past five games.

"Just managing minutes," Muse said. "Guy that plays a lot of minutes. So, multiple factors there."

Keeping Karlsson fresh will be key for the Penguins to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff chase. They currently rank seventh in the eight-team Metropolitan Division, 10 points behind the Hurricanes. The same approach may apply to other top Pittsburgh players, as the Penguins' top six in points are all 31 or older.

Sidney Crosby, 38, continues to lead the Penguins in scoring with 20 goals and 39 points.

After losing three games in a row before Christmas (0-2-1), Carolina has won two straight coming out of the break, which has helped coach Rod Brind'Amour's team create some space atop the division. At 51 points, the Hurricanes hold a five-point lead over the second-place New York Islanders.

Carolina rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory over the visiting New York Rangers on Monday. Jackson Blake got the game-winner on a power play, deflecting Sebastian Aho's shot under Igor Shesterkin.

The Hurricanes have been dealing with several injuries. Seth Jarvis, who leads the team with 19 goals and is tied with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for second with 29 points, is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Gostisbehere, who leads the team with 25 assists, was scratched on Monday due to a groin ailment.

Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who has played in only five games this season, went on injured reserve last week because of an upper-body injury.

Earlier Monday, the team announced backup goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who was expected to start against the Rangers, likely would miss the remainder of the season after he chose to get surgery on a lower-body injury that has bothered him since the end of the preseason.

With Gostisbehere unavailable, Brind'Amour chose to roll out four forwards for the game-winning 4-on-3 overtime power play.

Aho, who leads the team with 35 points, said after the victory that maintaining confidence has been key to keeping the team high in the standings the past few seasons.

"You just keep working and being relentless," he said. "You can't really tell if we're up or down, we just keep coming."