Hurricanes fall to Penguins

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Christian Ehrhoff scored his first goal of the season with 4:33 remaining, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Robert Bortuzzo's first-period goal gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead, and the Penguins held on to avenge a 4-2 home loss to Carolina on Friday.

Ehrhoff followed his backhanded shot and put in a wide-angle forehand on the rebound to make it a two-goal edge in the third.

Justin Faulk put the Hurricanes ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal in the first -- just 17 seconds before Chris Kunitz tied it for Pittsburgh -- and Elias Lindholm cut Carolina's deficit to 3-2 with 11.7 seconds left in the game.

Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for Pittsburgh (16-5-2), which avoided its first losing streak in regulation games this season. Anton Khudobin had 30 saves for the Hurricanes, 1-11-2 when trailing after two periods.

The teams traded early goals in the first period.

Faulk struck first, but before that goal was announced, Kunitz tied it for Pittsburgh.

Evgeni Malkin skated behind the Carolina net and found Kunitz, who one-timed a shot at 3:56 for his first goal since Nov. 4.

Bortuzzo pushed the Penguins ahead 2-1 at 5:32. He skated between two defensemen, who didn't slide toward him. Bortuzzo had a clear path to the net and beat Khudobin for his second of the season.

Both teams started backup goalies on the second half of the home-and-home series. Cam Ward beat Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury on Friday.

Greiss (3-1-1) has allowed just one goal in each of his victories. Khudobin is winless in seven starts, falling to 0-5-2.

The Penguins played without center Marcel Goc and defenseman Kris Letang, both of whom were out with injuries sustained Friday. Andrew Ebbett was called up to take Goc's place in the lineup, and Bortuzzo stepped in for Letang.