PITTSBURGH _ It wasn't always pretty, but the outcome counts just the same. Like a line drive in the book.
The Penguins stayed patient and eventually slipped past the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, an important two points with a tight playoff race showing no signs of dissipating.
Jake Guentzel, Scott Wilson and Conor Sheary scored for the Penguins, who've won two in a row following an 0-2-2 skid. The Penguins have four games left this season, including their biggest one yet with Columbus in town Tuesday.
Matt Murray started in goal and stopped 33 of 35 shots. His strong outing follows another Friday in Manhattan _ later on in that one, anyway _ as Murray looks to ready himself for the postseason.
The Penguins got some bad news before this one, as coach Mike Sullivan announced that forward Chris Kunitz would be out "longer-term" with a lower-body injury he suffered Friday while blocking a shot.
An unrestricted free agent at season's end, it's likely Kunitz may have played his last game in a Penguins sweater.
Wilson figures to get a crack at occupying Kunitz's spot _ left wing on the third line when he was hurt _ while Nick Bonino wore an "A" Sunday as one two alternate captains.
The Penguins improved to 48-19-11 and kept pace in the Metropolitan Division _ no matter the outcome of Sunday's Washington-Columbus game.
It also snapped an 0-2-1 stretch for the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena and helped them take the series from Carolina for the first time since 1997-98.
The Hurricanes (35-29-14) likely saw their remaining playoff hopes extinguished. They sit seven points back of the final wild card spot with just four games to play.
The teams traded goals in a first period that was slow to get off the ground, with 15 stoppages in the first 7:26.
Guentzel gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead at 11:28 by one-timing a Chad Ruhwedel feed late on a power play.
Ruhwedel slithered past Jaccob Slavin along the right-wing boards before sliding a perfect pass to Guentzel, who scored for the 13th time in 37 NHL games.
The sequence actually started in the Penguins' own zone and included a smart, one-time pass at center ice from Bonino.
Jeff Skinner brought the Hurricanes back at 13:21 of the first. Elias Lindholm shot the puck from the inner-edge of the right circle and appeared to push his own rebound past Murray. But Skinner touched the puck at the last second for his 13th goal in his past 15 games.
Wilson pushed the Penguins ahead, 2-1, with a workmanlike effort at 7:50 of the second period. Carter Rowney threw a puck at the net. Wilson chopped at the rebound for his first goal in 15 games.
Sheary picked up 22nd goal of the season to make it 3-1 at 5:07 of the third, the first time the Penguins scored multiple power-play goals in a game since March 8. Smart play by Patric Hornqvist, too, passing on what looked like an easy shot opportunity in the slot to find Sheary in the corner.
It's just the second man-advantage marker this season for Sheary, who has five goals and 17 points in 16 games since returning from an upper-body injury.
The Hurricanes cut the Penguins lead to 3-2 at 9:38 of the third period with a power-play goal credited to Justin Faulk.
Faulk put a shot high off the glass behind Murray. It bounced from there, off the goaltender's back and in.
