Johnson’s defense guides Penguins

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C.

When things were most tense, Carolina had twice as many skaters on the ice as Pittsburgh did. To Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, it seemed as if it were even more.

“The 8-on-3,” he quipped, “was pretty gutsy.”

Backup goalie Brent Johnson came up big during the defensive stand that thwarted Carolina’s three-man advantage and helped the surging Penguins beat the slumping Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday night.

“You don’t see 6-on-3s that often,” Johnson said. “Just an excellent effort from our guys.”

Arron Asham and Pascal Dupuis scored 1:27 apart in the third period, Craig Adams had a goal and an assist, and Sidney Crosby added an assist for the Penguins.

They’ve won five of seven games since Crosby’s return, and he has two goals and 10 assists in that span.

Johnson finished with 30 stops to win a battle of the backups against Brian Boucher.

He stopped five shots during the final 2:04, when a series of Pittsburgh penalties gave Carolina a 5-on-3 advantage.

The Hurricanes pulled Boucher and peppered him relentlessly in what Adams called “a shooting gallery.”

Cracked Bylsma: “We were going to be short for another 24 hours.”