|
 Chris Kunitz and Tanner Glass also tallied for the Penguins, who
scored three goals on seven shots against Jonathan Quick in the
first period. Defenseman Matt Niskanen notched two assists for the
third time in five games and Jeff Zatkoff made 30 saves.
Anze Kopitar converted a power-play chance for the Kings, who kicked
off a four-game homestand with their 14th loss in 19 contests
(5-12-2). Martin Jones turned aside 14 shots over the final two
periods for Los Angeles, which has scored a total of three goals in
its last five games — all by Kopitar.
Pittsburgh needed only 57 seconds to get on the board as Jokinen
made a backhand pass across the top of the crease to Malkin, who
tapped in the puck near the right post. Kopitar blasted a shot from
the top of the left faceoff circle past Zatkoff at 9:32 to forge a
tie, but the Kings were done in when Jarret Stoll and captain Dustin
Brown were whistled for penalties less than a minute later.
[to top of second column] |
Just 45 seconds into the 5-on-3 advantage, Kunitz capped a nifty
passing sequence from the slot at 10:50 to put the Penguins ahead
for good. Jokinen scored from the right circle 57 seconds later for
another power-play goal and Glass unleashed a hard backhander from
the right circle that found the top left corner of the net at 11:44
of the second to complete the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh, which was facing Los Angeles for the
first time since Nov. 5, 2011, improved to 8-0-1 against the Pacific
Division this season. ... Malkin avoided his first three-game
stretch without a point this campaign. ... Penguins captain Sidney
Crosby notched an assist to raise his league-leading point total to
75. ... The Kings played at Staples Center for the first time since
Jan. 13. They went 2-5-1 over seven road games and a contest against
Anaheim at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
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