Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Jake Guentzel (59) smiles as he celebrates after his second goal against the Arizona Coyotes with Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) and defenseman Jan Rutta, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Tempe, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jake Guentzel came out of a scoring slump at the perfect time, allowing his team to end one of its own.

Guentzel scored two goals, Casey DeSmith stopped 23 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 Sunday night to end a six-game losing streak.

“It’s kind of a funny game like that,” Guentzel said. “Hopefully that will get me going.”

The Coyotes had the early jump after four straight road games and went up on Barrett Hayton’s first-period goal. DeSmith was sharp on a couple of good Arizona chances early in the second period, then Guentzel scored twice in a little over three minutes — his first goals in nine games.

Jason Zucker also scored, Jeff Carter added an empty-net goal and Sidney Crosby had two assists in Pittsburgh’s first win since Dec. 20.

“It was important to get the win for a lot of reasons, but most importantly I think we need to feel good about what went on out there,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “And I thought we played we play hard. We played the game the right way.”

The Coyotes couldn’t capitalize after turning up the pressure on Pittsburgh in the second period and got shut down by the Penguins for most of the third to lose their fifth straight. Karel Vejmelka had 24 saves for Arizona, which lost for the third time in its last nine home games.

“We had a breakaway, good scoring opportunities, shots from the slot, rebounds, screen shots — we just could not score,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.

The Coyotes were glad to be back at The Mullett after going 0-fer on a four-game road trip back east.

PENS POWER PLAY

Pittsburgh had some great opportunities in six power play opportunities, but couldn’t find the net. The Penguins are 0 for 21 the past four games, but Sullivan and his staff aren’t quite ready to make any major changes.

“There’s always a fine line; you don’t want to over coach it because my experience has been sometimes if you’re not careful, you can get in the way their instincts,” Sullivan said. “These guys are really good players for a reason. They think the game way better than you and I do, so sometimes we try to stay out of their way a little bit.”

CAPITALS 1, BLUE JACKETS 0

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson made their season debuts and the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 on Sunday.

BLUES 3, WILD 0

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brandon Saad extended his goal streak to a career-best four straight games, Brayden Schenn scored twice, and Thomas Greiss made 36 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead St. Louis.

BLACKHAWKS 4, FLAMES 3, OT

CHICAGO (AP) — Maxi Domi scored at 1:04 of overtime and had an assist as Chicago got its second straight win.

STARS 5, PANTHERS 1

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored two goals and Jake Oettinger made 27 saves to lead Dallas past Florida.

JETS 7, CANUCKS 4

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor had a hat trick and Winnipeg extended its winning streak to a season-best five games with a win over Vancouver.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, FLYERS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — John Tavares had a goal and two assists, Mitchell Marner added three assists and Toronto beat Philadelphia.

BRUINS 7, DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — David Pastrnak had three goals and an assist, Hampus Lindholm scored a goal in his Anaheim homecoming, and Boston completed a perfect three-game road trip.