With a late morning start in Los Angeles on Sunday, West Coast viewers watched along as the Kings defeated the Penguins 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. In a reversal of last year, the road has been friendly to the Kings thus far this season. With the win, LA extended their point streak to seven games when playing away from the friendly confines of Crypto.com Arena.
And while coach Jim Hiller would likely say it wasn’t the driving force behind an inspired victory, the win also avenged the Kings home loss to the Pens from a few weeks ago. Now, with more than 80% of their 2025-26 campaign still in front of them, LA and Pittsburgh have already wrapped up their season series.
As for the game itself, the Penguins had a goalie making his NHL debut in net. They also scored first when Tommy Novak took advantage of a defensive slip and put one past Darcy Kuemper. However, the Kings didn’t let that early setback rattle them. Captain Anze Kopitar answered back on the power play, with his second goal in as many games, tying things up at 1-1.
Special teams came through for the Penguins midway through the second period. Anthony Mantha fired one home with Pittsburgh on the man advantage, giving his team 2-1 lead heading into the second intermission.
Like they’ve done several times already this season on the road, the Kings regrouped during the break. Hiller’s squad came out with plenty of energy for the final frame of regulation, determined to turn the game around. Corey Perry quickly made his presence felt, scoring a clutch goal to tie things up and keep the pressure on Pittsburgh. The momentum kept building for LA, and midway through the frame, Kevin Fiala wowed the crowd with a highlight-reel move and roofed one over the goalie. Not only did his goal give the Kings their first lead of the game, but it also marked a special milestone, as it gave Fiala 500 NHL points. His goal turned out to be the game winner.
Standout Performers:
• Fiala: Reached 500 career NHL points with the game-winning goal. He has the second most points for Swiss born players.
• Perry: Provided the crucial tying goal in the third tying him for the team lead in goals with Fiala at seven.
• Kopitar has now scored in back-to-back games, after opening the season without a goal through 10 games.
Full game highlights can be viewed here:
Additional game notes:
— Sidney Crosby gave Kopitar his jersey after the game (with a special cameo from Mike Stothers too)…
— What’s Next? The Kings early season road resilience and seven game road point streak gets put to the test as they embark to eastern Canada. They will take on Atlantic Division leaders Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at 4pm Pacific Standard Time.
Pregame notes and lineups from Pittsburgh can be found in the article linked below.
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