The Los Angeles Kings have reached the halfway mark of their longest road trip of the season, and they’ll try to continue playing their best hockey of 2024 when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
The Kings have won seven of their past eight games, most recently beating the New York Rangers 5-1 on Saturday.
It was a nice recovery for Los Angeles after it lost 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
“We wanted a bounce-back game and I feel like we did that, and as a team,” Kings forward Quinton Byfield said. “The Rangers are a good team, so we kind of just answered the bell. We all just want to have a bounce-back game and that’s how it happened.”
Byfield, Warren Foegele, Adrian Kempe and Alex Turcotte each contributed a goal and an assist against the Rangers.
“When we’re playing direct and north, we create stuff for the team,” Turcotte said. “I felt that in the New Jersey game, we didn’t really get a chance to forecheck because we weren’t really playing north.”
Anze Kopitar also contributed two assists and continued his streak of not committing a minor penalty this season.
“I think it’s positioning, it’s an understanding of the game,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “He never retaliates, he doesn’t get too high, too low on anything. Whether he makes a good play or a bad play, he’s steady for the next shift. He doesn’t let his emotions get him off his game.”
Kings forward Trevor Moore sustained an upper-body injury against New Jersey and did not practice on Monday.
The Kings headed to Pittsburgh after playing the three New York-area teams. Los Angeles still has road games at Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington before returning home just in time for Christmas.
The Penguins have dropped three of five (2-2-1) and are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The loss was especially difficult because Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson left the game with a lower-body injury midway through the first period after absorbing a hit that sent him crashing into the boards.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said after practice on Monday that Pettersson will be sidelined week to week.
The Penguins are expected to start Tristan Jarry in goal against the Kings.
Jarry, an All-Star selection in 2020 and 2022, has struggled to find his form this season, even spending part of November in the American Hockey League.
Among goalies with at least 10 appearances, he’s 48th in the NHL with a .885 save percentage and 53rd with a 3.59 goals-against average.
Jarry was particularly upset about the second goal he allowed against the Senators, a centering pass by Thomas Chabot that went off the skate of Drake Batherson as he was stationed at the far post and was redirected into the Pittsburgh net.
“I don’t know how you take that out of the game but I don’t think you should be allowed to stand there and let the guy shoot it off you,” Jarry said. “I think it’s almost impossible to stop. Like, he gets position on our player and he just parks himself at the back post and their guy just shoots it off him. It’s a tough play and I think it’s not part of hockey.”
Jarry is 2-4-0 in six career starts against the Kings with a .914 save percentage and a 3.16 GAA.
Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, who started their most recent game, is 4-4-1 all-time against the Penguins with a .910 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA.
–Field Level Media
