Sidney Crosby scored twice and Evgeni Malkin set up three goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Saturday at crypto.com Arena. The win in this Penguins Kings 5-2 recap moved Pittsburgh to 6-9-2 on the season while Los Angeles fell to 5-8-2.
The Penguins built their margin early, scoring three times in the first period before holding on through a quieter middle frame and closing it out late in the third. Tommy Novak opened the scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes, and Egor Chinakhov added a third before the period ended. Corey Perry’s goal was the lone response for the Kings in the first, and Los Angeles never got closer than a goal in the final two periods. Alex Laferriere led Los Angeles with a goal, while Adrian Kempe and Corey Perry each finished with an assist.
Key Moments: How The Penguins Pulled Away
Pittsburgh set the tone 1:52 into the game when Tommy Novak beat Darcy Kuemper on a wrist shot, assisted by Declan Carlile and Kris Letang. Novak struck again at 5:10 on a snap shot set up by Ben Kindel, making it 2-0 before the Kings found an answer.
Corey Perry cut the deficit to 2-1 at 9:55 with a batted-in goal off feeds from Mikey Anderson and Artemi Panarin, but Egor Chinakhov restored the two-goal cushion with 29 seconds left in the period, finishing a passing play from Ville Koivunen and Malkin to make it 3-1.
Alex Laferriere trimmed the lead to 3-2 early in the second period on a wrist shot assisted by Kempe and Erik Gustafsson, giving the Kings life. Crosby answered at 17:13 of the second, deflecting a feed from Malkin and Erik Karlsson past Kuemper to push the lead back to two goals. Crosby added an empty-net insurance marker with 1:16 remaining in regulation, poking in a loose puck off assists from Malkin and Letang to set the final at 5-2.
Top Performers
Crosby finished with two goals on three shots in 18:50 of ice time. Malkin did not score but recorded three assists, giving him a game-high point total. Tommy Novak had two goals of his own in the first period, and Kris Letang chipped in two assists while blocking three shots.
Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov stopped 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. Darcy Kuemper took the loss for Los Angeles, allowing five goals on 18 shots for a .778 save percentage. The Kings outshot Pittsburgh 28-19 and out-hit the Penguins 29-11, but could not solve Murashov often enough to overcome the early deficit.
Both teams scored once on three power-play chances, finishing even at 33.3% with the man advantage. Los Angeles won the faceoff battle 26-23, good for 53.1%.
What It Means
The result keeps Pittsburgh at 14 points in the Metropolitan Division, tied with Columbus but trailing the Blue Jackets in the standings order with nine regulation losses on the season. Los Angeles sits at 12 points in the Pacific Division, ahead of only Vancouver. Pittsburgh now leads the season series between the two clubs 1-0.
What’s Next
Pittsburgh continues its stretch of division and conference play following Saturday’s win, while Los Angeles looks to regroup after dropping another game at home. Neither club’s next official matchup date was included in Saturday’s game data. The Penguins have been looking for consistency after a 6-2 loss to the Bruins and a 4-3 defeat to Utah earlier this season.
Malkin’s three-assist night comes after he missed time with a lower-body injury that had sidelined him against Vegas. Pittsburgh also picked up an overtime win over Nashville in Koivunen’s extra-time goal last month.
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