PITTSBURGH — Just about everyone inside PPG Paints Arena warmly welcomed Jake Guentzel back to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. One rare exception? Alex Nedeljkovic.

Nedeljkovic was on point between the pipes, making 39 saves — six of them on Guentzel — to lead the Penguins to a 4-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Penguins had lost nine of 11 games since they agreed to trade Guentzel to the rival Hurricanes on March 7. Sidney Crosby in particular had been mired in a funk until he broke out with a four-point performance Sunday in Colorado.

“We sat next to each other, played together,” Crosby said of Guentzel, the most productive winger the Hall of Famer ever had. “Winning the Stanley Cup, there’s always a unique bond when you do that together. Besides that, the length of time and some of the memories over the years, definitely a strong [connection].”

Meanwhile, Guentzel has flourished with his new squad. Sure, the fact that he is a top-50 player in the league has a little something to do with that. But he is a great fit for the way the Hurricanes like to play under coach Rod Brind’Amour, with his persistent puck pursuit and ability to generate offense via the cycle game.

Entering Tuesday, Guentzel had two points and 10 assists in eight games with the Hurricanes. That led to a playful jab from his longtime buddy, Bryan Rust.

“I didn’t know he was such a good passer,” Rust deadpanned after the morning skate. “That must mean that I can’t score, or he just decided to finally show it.”

The highlight of Tuesday’s scoreless first period was the tribute video. It opened with a shot of a young Guentzel kissing the Cup and included clips of his biggest goals in black and gold and humorous moments, like when Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist raced each other on go-karts while dressed up as the Mario Bros.

The crowd was so loud initially that it was difficult to hear what was said on the Jumbotron. Most of the fans on hand gave the 29-year-old a standing ovation.

Guentzel, whose preference was to sign a new deal to stay in Pittsburgh, waved and clapped in gratitude when the video concluded and the crowd roared again.

Jesse Puljujarvi scored off the rush to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Ryan Graves helped make it happen. The defenseman shoved down Andrei Svechnikov then skated directly to the Carolina crease and parked right in front of Pyotr Kochetkov. Puljujarvi scored through that sizable screen.

The Hurricanes tied it up later in the period when Dmitry Orlov’s shot deflected in off Erik Karlsson. The Penguins were playing shorthanded because Marcus Pettersson was still down after an awkward collision with Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

That pinball goal was the only blemish during the second for Nedeljkovic, who stopped 14 shots in that period to prevent the Hurricanes from pulling ahead.

Rust scored off a Crosby faceoff win with 1:51 left in the second to make it 2-1.

That was all Nedeljkovic needed to snap the team’s three-game losing streak.

Some of his better saves came on Guentzel, a two-time All-Star forward here.

Guentzel had a couple of good looks late in the first period. He just missed on a short-side attempt off the rush then watched his sneaky deflection get kicked out by Nedeljkovic. Guentzel also was stuffed on a point-blank shot in the second.

Drew O’Connor, who has replaced Guentzel on the top line, and Crosby hit the empty net to secure the win for the Penguins in Guentzel’s much-anticipated return.

ICE CHIPS

— Sam Poulin made his season debut for the Penguins. The former first-round draft pick was promoted Tuesday morning and centered the fourth line against the Hurricanes. It was the 23-year-old’s first NHL game in more than 16 months.

— Graves returned to the Pittsburgh lineup after missing the previous two games to tend to a personal matter. He skated with Jack St. Ivany on the third pair.

— Jeff Carter, Emil Bemstrom and John Ludvig were scratched by the Penguins. Meanwhile, Noel Acciari went on injured reserve and won’t return this season.

— The Penguins called up Jonathan Gruden on Tuesday and he played his 13th game this season. It was noteworthy that he got the nod over Bemstrom. In the third, Gruden threw a loud hit then he dropped the gloves with Stefan Noesen.

— With the win, Pittsburgh took the season series against Carolina, going 2-1-1.

— Pettersson didn’t miss a shift after his second-period collision with Kotkaniemi.

— Puljujarvi has scored in two straight games. The power forward has picked up his play a bit after he was a regular healthy scratch up until this past weekend.

— The Penguins held their annual Pride Night at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. Crosby, Rust and Rickard Rakell were among the Pittsburgh players to show support for the cause by putting Pride tape on their sticks for pregame warmups.

STAT N’AT

7 — Players age 25 or younger in Pittsburgh’s lineup Tuesday, including Poulin.

THEY SAID IT

“It’s not a great feeling. At the end of the day, we did it to ourselves. So nobody’s feeling sorry for us,” Jeff Carter said of the Penguins, who despite Tuesday’s win are still in 13th place in the East. “We’re not out yet. So we’ll keep working.”

COMING UP

The Penguins will practice Wednesday afternoon in Cranberry. Their next game is Thursday against the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets at PPG Paints Arena.

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