VANCOUVER, Canada — It's been a week of homecomings for Ben Kindel, visiting the city where he played his junior hockey and the area where he grew up.

He threw his own party inside Rogers Arena Sunday.

The 18-year-old rookie scored two goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2, to wrap up an undefeated four-game Western road trip that has pushed them to 11-2-2 since the holiday break.

The Coquitlam, Canada, native had gone 19 games without a goal entering Sunday. He snapped that streak in the middle of the second period with a crafty tip to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.

And with that, the dam was broken. Kindel added another about nine minutes later — showing off a snappy release and a shot so heavy it appeared to destroy the camera in the back of the net.

The box full of his friends and family exploded after both tallies. The Vancouver crowd gave him a warm reception when the goals were announced, as well.

After carrying a 3-0 lead into the second intermission, the Penguins gave up two third-period goals to make it interesting in the final minutes. But Stuart Skinner was once again solid in net, making multiple dramatic saves in the final minute to push his post-Christmas record to 7-1-0. He's given up just 13 goals in that span.

On Wednesday, he'd returned to Calgary, Canada, where he played multiple seasons for the Hitmen of the Western Hockey League before the Penguins picked him 11th overall in June.

Amid Pittsburgh's scorching surge since Christmas, Kindel had gone quiet. He had just one point in the previous seven games. But he's now up to 10 goals and 22 points in his first 48 NHL games after tipping a pass from Ryan Shea past Kevin Lankinen and then unloading a slap shot set up by Justin Brazeau.

Evgeni Malkin kept the game rolling to open the scoring. The 39-year-old beat Lankinen on the rush about five minutes into the second period following a pretty pass by Tommy Novak for his third straight game with a goal.

Both teams got a little lucky in the sleepy, scoreless first period. Egor Chinakhov had a goal overturned about eight minutes into the game — this time not on some wicked release, just a nice tip-in off a Malkin feed — but the Canucks successfully challenged for offside.

In the final minute of the period, Vancouver's Conor Garland appeared to score — but referees quickly ruled that Teddy Blueger was in the blue paint and waved off the goal. Blueger did not make much contact with Skinner, at least not until the puck was already in the back of the net.

The Canucks broke up the shutout about six-and-a-half minutes into the third period, as Jake DeBrusk back-handed in a rebound.

The home team continued to get traffic in front of the Pittsburgh net, and Blueger tipped in Vancouver's second goal of the game with six minutes remaining. The Canucks had chances down the stretch, but Skinner held strong — making an incredible diving stop off a rebound attempt from close range.

It was over when …

It should have been over sooner than it was. The Penguins' struggle to hold third-period leads reared its ugly head again, but the team with the fewest points in the NHL by far was unable to find an equalizer.

Stat of the game

19-8: The Penguins' goal differential on the perfect four-game road trip that pushed them into second in the Metropolitan Division with a 26-14-11 record.

Around the boards

— Defenseman Kris Letang returned after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.

— With Letang's return, Connor Clifton exited the lineup. He had three points in the past four games and was a +3 in that stretch.

— Clifton's time in the press box may be short. Fellow blueliner Jack St. Ivany exited the game in the first period. The Penguins later announced he would not return with an upper-body injury.

— Shea's assist on Kindel's first goal pushed his point streak to three games. He has 19 points on the season. He'd never had more than five before.

— Novak and Chinakhov also have three-game point streaks after assisting Malkin's goal.

— Anthony Mantha's assist on Kindel's first goal gave him five points on the road trip.

Up next

The Penguins are scheduled to travel back to Pittsburgh on Monday. Their next game is Thursday at PPG Paints Arena against the Blackhawks.

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