LOS ANGELES — A lower-body injury to Kings icon Anže Kopitar denied his much-anticipated matchup with fellow captain Sidney Crosby, whose Pittsburgh Penguins prevailed, 4-2, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Pittsburgh trailed by two goals early but broke a tie in the third period with a shorthanded marker and then sealed the Kings’ fate in the final minute.
After winning a franchise-record 31 home games last season, the Kings have dropped two games in a row at home and four of five overall to start this campaign.
Sans Kopitar, the Kings got goals from Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala. Anton Forsberg made 22 saves on a night when the Kings were also missing starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper because of a lower-body injury.
Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor Dewar and Filip Hållander scored for Pittsburgh. Artūrs Šilovs made 30 saves.
Crosby’s second penalty of the night came in the final frame, ostensibly giving the Kings life. Instead, it was former Ducks winger Rickard Rakell ringing the iron off a shorthanded rush and then creating a rebound for Hållander with 13:10 remaining in the match – his first career NHL goal.
Crosby iced the game with an empty-net goal as 30 seconds showed on the game clock.
The Penguins had flipped the script in the second period. They responded with two unanswered goals of their own, 41 seconds apart, at 6:37 and 7:18.
Pittsburgh cashed in on the power play, following a near-miss with a goal. Quinton Byfield watched from the penalty box as one of the players he patterned his game after, Malkin, converted. He dropped from above the left circle to the faceoff dot for a shot that squeaked between Forsberg’s pad and glove.
A routine dump-in turned into a catastrophe for the Kings when Dewar stuffed the puck under Forsberg’s pad for a tying goal that the netminder surely lamented.
The Kings fired out of the gate, scoring 4:24 and 9:04 after the opening faceoff.
First, Foegele initiated the scoring sequence by being first in on the forecheck and winning the puck back. Two passes and three shot attempts later, Foegele scored from his knees and then sprung to his feet to celebrate a 1-0 lead.
Then, Joel Armia’s two-way game was on display as he stole the puck, zoomed ahead and hit Byfield with a cross-ice pass that opened up the back post for a tap-in from Fiala.
More to come on this story.
Continue reading...
Pittsburgh trailed by two goals early but broke a tie in the third period with a shorthanded marker and then sealed the Kings’ fate in the final minute.
After winning a franchise-record 31 home games last season, the Kings have dropped two games in a row at home and four of five overall to start this campaign.
Sans Kopitar, the Kings got goals from Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala. Anton Forsberg made 22 saves on a night when the Kings were also missing starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper because of a lower-body injury.
Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor Dewar and Filip Hållander scored for Pittsburgh. Artūrs Šilovs made 30 saves.
Crosby’s second penalty of the night came in the final frame, ostensibly giving the Kings life. Instead, it was former Ducks winger Rickard Rakell ringing the iron off a shorthanded rush and then creating a rebound for Hållander with 13:10 remaining in the match – his first career NHL goal.
Crosby iced the game with an empty-net goal as 30 seconds showed on the game clock.
The Penguins had flipped the script in the second period. They responded with two unanswered goals of their own, 41 seconds apart, at 6:37 and 7:18.
Pittsburgh cashed in on the power play, following a near-miss with a goal. Quinton Byfield watched from the penalty box as one of the players he patterned his game after, Malkin, converted. He dropped from above the left circle to the faceoff dot for a shot that squeaked between Forsberg’s pad and glove.
A routine dump-in turned into a catastrophe for the Kings when Dewar stuffed the puck under Forsberg’s pad for a tying goal that the netminder surely lamented.
The Kings fired out of the gate, scoring 4:24 and 9:04 after the opening faceoff.
First, Foegele initiated the scoring sequence by being first in on the forecheck and winning the puck back. Two passes and three shot attempts later, Foegele scored from his knees and then sprung to his feet to celebrate a 1-0 lead.
Then, Joel Armia’s two-way game was on display as he stole the puck, zoomed ahead and hit Byfield with a cross-ice pass that opened up the back post for a tap-in from Fiala.
More to come on this story.
Related Articles
- Kings have been paying the price for their penalties
- Kings stage 3rd-period rally but lose to Wild in shootout
- Kings come up short in loss at Winnipeg
- Kings rally late, top Golden Knights in shootout
- Kings’ season opener spoiled by Avalanche
Continue reading...