Jeff Skinner's unassisted goal in the second period snapped a scoreless tie Thursday night, as the Carolina Hurricanes bounced back from consecutive one-goal losses with a 4-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

It was the fifth win in seven games for Carolina (19-13-8), which is now holding down the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after a slow start. The Penguins dropped to 20-19-3 and continued their inconsistent form.

Skinner took the puck away and potted his 13th marker of the season at 6:50 for the only goal the Hurricanes required. But they kept adding on to make things easier for goalie Cam Ward.

Teuvo Teravainen notched his 11th goal at 16:53 to make it 2-0, with Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin drawing assists. For Aho, it was his 20th helper of the season.

Aho sealed the result in the third period with a pair of goals. With Jordan Staal and Brett Pesce helping out, Aho scored at 9:14 for a three-goal cushion. At 12:33, Aho tallied his 13th of the season, with Teravainen and Pesce bagging assists.

Ward (11-2-2), who's wrested the starting job from offseason signee Scott Darling, made 21 saves for his first shutout of the season.

Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray (14-12-1) stopped 29 of 33 shots in the losing cause. The Penguins have lost eight of their last 12 matches.

--Field Level Media