Hurricanes make short work of Penguins, extend multiple streaks in 5-1 win

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes had a bunch of streaks on the line Thursday.

The Canes had won seven straight games, the longest active streak in the NHL.

Martin Necas had a seven-game point streak and Andrei Svechnikov a six-game streak, and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov had won five straight starts.

All of those streaks continued as the Hurricanes made it eight wins in a row by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-1, in a Metro Division game at Lenovo Center.

Jack Roslovic scored twice and had an assist — the winger now has nine goals this season — and Kochetkov picked up his seventh win of the season.

Jordan Martinook scored in the first minute of the game, defenseman Jaccob Slavin scored in the second and Eric Robinson in the third as the Canes, who lead the Eastern Conference in winning percentage, improved to 10-2-0.

Robinson’s goal was assisted by Necas, who picked up a point as Robinson tipped in a pass as he breezed past the net — Necas did have a four-game goal streak end.

Defenseman Jalen Chatfield had a career-high three assists, and center Sebastian Aho had two as Aho’s line with Roslovic and Svechnikov led the way with six points.

Martinook and Roslovic both scored off the rush in the first period, Martinook lifting the puck past goalie Alex Nedeljkovic after a good feed from Jordan Staal. Fifty-two seconds in, the Hurricanes had the lead.

Aho and Roslovic teamed up on a give-and-go for a 2-0 lead, Roslovic taking the pass between the circles and ripping a shot.

Svechnikov spotted Roslovic open in the left circle in the second period, and Roslovic didn’t miss. Later the period, Slavin zipped a shot through traffic from the left point that Nedeljkovic couldn’t track for a 4-0 lead.

That left it up to Kochetkov, who had Canes fans often chanting “K-oooch” as he patrolled the crease, anticipating and moving well.

The Pens’ Blake Lizotte ended Kochetkov’s shutout bid in the third after a scrambling Kochetkov stopped a couple of shots. Lizotte came an inch or two from scoring in the second period.

The Canes had four shots in the opening period, their fewest since a four-shot third period of the opening-night loss to Tampa Bay. The Pens, who piled up a lot of offensive-zone time, had 10 shots, but Kochetkov made all the stops, one after his helmet popped off.

The Canes killed off a double minor for high-sticking in the first period, the four minutes of short-handed work limiting their shooting opportunities.

Roslovic took the NHL lead in an interesting category: Most goals without an assist in the season. That ended when he picked up his first assist of the season on Slavin’s goal in the second that extended the Canes’ lead to 4-0.

In one second-period sequence, Kochetkov twice lost his stick in the crease trying to make a stop. He finally jammed his glove to the post to keep Lizotte from scoring

The Penguins (5-8-2) outshot the Canes and tested Kochetkov with redirections and some quality shots. Pittsburgh is now winless in its past seven games in Raleigh (0-4-3) and has not won at Lenovo Center since December 2018.

A four-game homestand over, the Hurricanes go back out on the road for three games starting Saturday at Colorado.