Hurricanes open long road trip against productive Penguins

Special moments already have come for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes this season.

Each team will be looking for more when they meet Friday night in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins split their first four games before defeating the visiting Buffalo Sabres 6-5 in overtime Wednesday night on captain Sidney Crosby's goal. That marked the team's first back-to-back victories of the season.

The Penguins have scored six goals in each of their three victories, and one of those on Wednesday came from Evgeni Malkin, who notched the 500th of his career, all with Pittsburgh.

Malkin said he has been motivated by the support he has received in Pittsburgh.

"I'm glad the fans are really supporting me," Malkin said. "I feel like it's always a pleasure to play here, this city. Lots of good friends here."

Malkin's third-period goal against the Sabres was his second of the season and helped to set up Crosby for his game winner on his first goal of 2024-25. Crosby is seven goals away from 600 in his career.

"When you accomplish what they've accomplished, and you've won as many times as they have won ... I just think when you win Stanley Cups, it has a way of galvanizing relationships," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of the Malkin-Crosby duo.

The Hurricanes are embarking on a six-game road stretch that has become a yearly rite of passage on the schedule as the North Carolina State Fair takes over their home arena.

They have split a pair of home games and are set to play their first road game after their contest at Tampa Bay on Saturday was postponed.

Carolina scored four goals -- one into an empty net -- in the final 30 minutes of a 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. One of the goals came from defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who is back for his second stint with the Hurricanes.

"Being here before really helps," said Gostisbehere, who racked up a team-high 56 points (10 goals, 46 assists) last season for Detroit. "We got a lot of new guys in here just to buy into the system. Do your thing and do anything you can to help the team."

The Hurricanes also received the first career goal from 21-year-old rookie Jackson Blake, who was in his third NHL game. Forward Seth Jarvis also scored, marking his first goal since signing an eight-year, $63.2 million contract in the offseason.

Calling it, "this big road trip," Gostisbehere hopes the upcoming trip helps the team to sharpen its approach.

"It's just good to play our way, play our system," Gostisbehere said. "We obviously got to clean some things up."

Carolina's early concerns are with special teams as those units are evolving. In two games, the Hurricanes have given up three power-play goals.

"It's execution, that's what special teams comes down to," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "You got to be one step ahead."

Last season, the Hurricanes went 25-13-3 in road games, ranking tied for sixth in the NHL in road points. They were boosted by the league's top road power-play percentage at 30.8 percent.

The Penguins' roster includes forward Michael Bunting, who was traded to Pittsburgh last March, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic - both former Hurricanes.

Friday's game will be Pittsburgh's final home outing before four consecutive road games.

The teams will meet again Nov. 7 at Carolina.