|
 Marian Gaborik won it by snapping a shot under the crossbar in the
fourth round of shootout, and the Kings won their sixth in a row,
beating the Penguins 3-2 Friday night.
"We've been fortunate we've been winning in OT and shootouts ...
that's huge," Gaborik said, pointing to Los Angeles' 7-1 overtime
record. "He (Quick) was outstanding -- both goalies were. He was
great."
Quick won a goaltender duel with Marc-Andre Fleury, preventing
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bonino from scoring in the
shootout while making 40 saves through regulation and overtime.
Fleury made 38 saves.
"It was a fun game to watch," Fleury said, citing a back-and-forth
overtime filled with a multitude of scoring chances.
The Penguins sent it to overtime on Malkin's 13th goal -- and on his
10th shot of the game -- off his own rebound with 70 seconds
remaining in regulation after pulling Fleury. All but two of
Malkin's goals have been at Consol Energy Center this season.
Both teams had multiple scoring chances in the 3-on-3 overtime, with
Quick stopping Penguins right winger Phil Kessel on a breakaway
created by a remarkable up-ice chip pass by Crosby.
"We almost had one there," said Crosby, who along with Kessel was
denied a goal when a shot hit the post.
The Kings opened the scoring 7:34 into the first period when left
winger Tanner Pearson, who collected defenseman Alec Martinez's pass
into the neutral zone, deftly skated around defenseman Ian Cole to
beat Fleury inside the far post.
"We had the mindset to wear them down, grind them down and for the
most part we did," Gaborik said. "(But) there were a lot of shots, a
lot of chances on both sides."
After that, Quick -- 7-0-1 in his last eight starts -- kept Los
Angeles in the lead until Penguins center Eric Fehr scored on one of
Pittsburgh's 18 shots in the second period to tie it at 1.
Former Penguins draft pick and current Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin
needed only 34 seconds of the third period to give the lead back to
Los Angeles with a slap shot from above the right circle that
somehow eluded Fleury under his left leg pad.
It was Muzzin's third goal -- and second in seven days against the
Penguins, who lost in Los Angeles 5-3 on Saturday.
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"Big players step up in big times and I thought we had that
tonight," Muzzin said.
The Penguins lost their third in four games, and the lack of scoring
was nothing new for a team that has only 67 goals so far this season
-- the fourth fewest after 28 games in their 48-season history.
"But I thought all game long we did some good things," Crosby said
after the Penguins failed to score on the power play for the fourth
consecutive game, going 0-for-3.
Malkin said, "We need some practice on it (the power play) ... it's
just bad luck right now."
Kings center Jordan Nolan faces possible disciplinary action after
shoving linesman Shandor Alphonso early in the third period, after
the official stepped between him and a Penguins player. Later in the
period, referees Kevin Pollock and Marc Joannette could be seen
illustrating Nolan's actions to Kings captain Dustin Brown.
NOTES: The Kings are 2-0 to start a six-game road trip. They
improved to 19-8-1 and already are nearly halfway to the 40 wins
they managed last season, after winning the Stanley Cup in 2013-14.
... Kings LW Michael Mersch, a fourth-round pick in 2011, made his
NHL debut after posting 12 goals and 15 points in 19 AHL games. He
tied for the AHL lead with 22 points in 18 playoff games for
champion Manchester last season. The 23-year-old played on the third
line with C Nick Shore and RW Dustin Brown. ... The Kings scratched
D Derek Forbort, LW Kyle Clifford and C Trevor Lewis. ... The
Penguins were without D Kris Letang (upper-body injury) for the
third time in four games, but the injury is not the same as the one
that sidelined him earlier, coach Mike Johnston said. Kings coach
Darryl Sutter said it was no advantage for his team that Letang was
out, saying he prefers to oppose an opponent's top players. ....
Penguins D Rob Scuderi, a healthy scratch on Wednesday against
Colorado, returned to the lineup to replace Letang. D David
Warsofsky was paired with Olli Maatta and was on the point on the
power play. Pittsburgh also held out D Adam Clendening.
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