Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist Thursday to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins past the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-1.
Jason Zucker and Jeff Carter also scored while Jake Guentzel and Brian Dumoulin each added two assists for the Penguins (39-30-10, 88 points), who have won two of their past three.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 27 saves.
With the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders both earning wins on Thursday to give them 89 points, the Penguins remained one point out in the race for the two Eastern Conference wild cards.
Marcus Johansson scored for the Wild (44-24-10, 98 points), who have lost three straight (0-1-2).
Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, a longtime Penguins core player, stopped 27 shots.
The Wild started the night in a three-way tie for first place in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars
Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek left with assistance in the second period after he blocked a shot that hit him in the left knee, and Minnesota forward Oskar Sundqvist also left in the second because of a lower-body injury.
Pittsburgh dominated the first period, posting a 19-5 shot advantage, but Fleury held firm other than Letang’s goal.
Letang got the puck at the center point and carried it around the outer edge of the right circle. Before he got not quite as far as the bottom of the circle, he let loose a wrist shot that went over Fleury’s glove to make it 1-0 at 15:02.
Rakell gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead during a power play at 10:53 of the second. After Eriksson Ek stayed on the ice but could hardly move after blocking a shot, Rakell blasted a shot from the left dot that beat Fleury glove side.
Pittsburgh went ahead 3-0 at 2:58 of the third. Evgeni Malkin, gliding down through the left circle, fed Zucker at the top of the opposite circle. Zucker, using Rakell as a screen, scored short side.
Johansson spoiled Jarry’s bid for a shutout when he scored during a five-on-three power play at 7:39 of the third. His wraparound shot caromed in off the skate of Dumoulin.
At 13:08 of the third, Carter restored the three-goal cushion when, on his backhand, he redirected a Drew O’Connor feed over Fleury.
–Field Level Media
