RALEIGH, N.C. — With 19 games to go in their season, the Pittsburgh Penguins begin a five-game gauntlet through some of the best teams in the NHL, including Tuesday’s game against the first-place division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center.

The puck drops just after 7 p.m.

The game is the first of the Penguins’ five-game road trip that begins and ends in Carolina, with stops in Vegas, Utah, and Colorado.

The Penguins were well on their way to a terrible weekend Sunday. They lost in a shootout Saturday to the Philadelphia Flyers and trailed the stingy Boston Bruins 3-0 Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

However, a 5v3 goal by Egor Chinakhov set the stage for a furious Penguins comeback.

Connor Dewar and Anthony Mantha scored 33 seconds apart in the third period. David Pastrnak spotted Boston a 4-3 third-period lead, but the Penguins’ comeback momentum was too great.

Mantha tied the game 4-4 with a rebound put-back, and the Penguins won 5-4 in overtime when Chinakhov tapped the puck to Tommy Novak in the slot for the winner.

Goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 22 of 26 in the win. After the Columbus Blue Jackets completed their make-up game against the LA Kings Monday, the Penguins have a four-point lead over Columbus, the first team outside the playoff seeding.

Columbus got the breaks late, including a late power play on which they tied the game before LA won in OT, 5-4 at Nationwide Arena.

Carolina has won seven of their last nine games, but lost Saturday to the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome, 5-4. First-year goalie Brandon Bussi gave up five goals on 25 shots, and has posted a save percentage above .900 just once in his last five starts going back to games prior to the Olympic break.

After a strong start, the 27-year-old Bussi’s save percentage has slipped below .900 (.898).

Based on Penguins coach Dan Muse’s goalie rotation, Stuart Skinner will get the start. Skinner is 16-8-5 with the Penguins with an .889 save percentage, but has posted a greater than .920 save percentage in two of his last three starts.

Bussi and Frederik Andersen have split the last four games, and Andersen is in line to start for Carolina.

Penguins winger Justin Brazeau missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury. The Penguins recalled Ville Koivunen on an emergency basis, and Koivunen played in his spot on the third line with Ben Kindel and Mantha.

How to Watch

TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh

Radio: 105.9 The X.

Expected Penguins Lines

Egor Chinakhov-Rickard Rakell-Bryan Rust

Anthony Mantha-Tommy Novak-Elmer Soderblom

Ville Koivunen-Ben Kindel-Avery Hayes

Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari

Defense

Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson

Ryan Shea-Kris Letang

Ilya Solovyov-Connor Clifton

Goalie: Stuart Skinner, expected

Expected Hurricanes Lines

Andrei Svechnikov-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers-Jordan Staal-Jordan Martinook

William Carrier-Mark Jankowski-Eric Robinson

Defense

Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller-Sean Walker

Mike Reilly-Alexander Nikishin

Goalie: Frederik Andersen, expected

Special Teams

Penguins’ power play: 25.3%, 6th. Penguins penalty kill: 84.4%, 2nd.

Hurricanes power play: 22.5%, 10th. Hurricanes penalty kill: 79.4%, 15th.

Penguins Game Notes

The Penguins have points in five of their last seven games vs. Carolina (3-2-2), but have an eight-game winless streak (0-4-4) in Carolina dating back to Mar. 19, 2019.

Nine of the last 15 games between the Penguins and Carolina have been one-goal games

Ilya Solovyov has four points (0-4-4) in six games with the Penguins and has assists in each of his last three games played (3).

Tuesday is the third game of Evgeni Malkin’s five-game suspension.

The Penguins’ unlikely comeback Sunday further burnished their post-holiday record. Since the Penguins resumed play on Dec. 28, they are 17-5-5. The Penguins have the lowest goals-against in the NHL (2.41) in that time.

Erik Karlsson tallied two assists on Sunday against the Bruins and now has seven points (2-5-7) in the last six games.

The organization assigned defenseman Jack St. Ivany to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a conditioning assignment.

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