The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to avoid a third straight loss as they continue a three-game California road trip on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.
Pittsburgh opened the western road trip on Tuesday with a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Justin Brazeau, Rickard Rakell and Anthony Mantha found the back of the net, while Ryan Shea and Sidney Crosby each added a pair of helpers for Pittsburgh, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
With the pair of assists, Crosby (1,065) passed Steve Yzerman (1,063) for ninth on the all-time list.
“We had a good start and then it ends up being 2-2,” said Crosby. “Special teams are going to be big, and they were the difference.”
Pittsburgh has dropped two straight after opening the season with back-to-back wins.
Tristan Jarry made 18 saves and is 1-1-0 with a 3.56 goals against average and an .881 save percentage. In six career appearances against the Kings, Jarry is 2-4-0 with a .914 save percentage and a 3.16 GAA.
With his assist in Tuesday’s loss, Evgeni Malkin has a team-leading six points (all assists) through four games. In 24 career games against the Kings, the 39-year-old has 11 goals and 11 assists.
Pittsburgh won both meetings against Los Angeles last season, including a 5-1 victory in Southern California.
The Kings enter Tuesday’s meeting following a 4-3 shootout loss at the Minnesota Wild.
Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield each had a goal and an assist as Los Angeles scored three third-period goals to erase a 3-0 deficit and force overtime.
“It was good on us, for sure, but we can’t put ourselves in those holes. We’re taking too many penalties and I might be the main guy, I’ve taken a ton,” said Byfield. “So, that’s something that we’ve got to fix and you can’t be in those holes, but obviously it’s good resilience to get that point back.”
Kevin Fiala also scored while Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for the Kings, who have just one win through the first four games of the season (1-2-1).
The Kings took six minor penalties and allowed three Wild power-play goals in the loss.
“We’re taking too many penalties and we’re getting scored on,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller. “I think the one positive there is we had a really good kill in the third period to hold it. (At) 5-on-5, Winnipeg didn’t have much (last Saturday), Minnesota didn’t have much, so our 5-on-5 game is starting to feel a little bit more like how we play.
“We’re going to score goals, I’m not worried about that, but we just have to tighten it up. I think we’re getting there. We take some of the penalties away, we’ll be a good team.”
Kempe leads the Kings with two goals and three assists through four games, while Anze Kopitar has four assists in four games.
Kuemper enters Thursday’s action in search of his first win of the season (0-2-1) and has a 3.35 GAA to go along with an .868 save percentage through three appearances.
–Field Level Media
