The Los Angeles Kings opened a six-game road trip with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh struck first midway through the opening period. After winning a faceoff within the offensive zone, Evgeni Malkin shook free and passed to defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who arrange forward Tommy Novak within the slot. Novak buried his second goal of the season, giving the Penguins a 1-0 advantage.
The Kings struck back later within the period with a power-play goal, making it their third consecutive game with a man-advantage rating. Kevin Fiala battled along the boards and moved the puck to Anze Kopitar, whose cross-crease pass deflected off Wotherspoon into the online, tying the sport at 1.
The Penguins regained the lead at the tip of their first power play, as Anthony Mantha capitalized on a turnover and scored from the left-hand circle to make it 2-1.
Early within the third period, the Kings evened the rating because of forward Corey Perry. After Trevor Moore carried the puck to the offensive blue line, he passed to Cody Ceci, who then arrange Perry within the high slot. From there, Perry beat rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov on the blocker side for his seventh goal of the season, tying the competition 2-2.
With seven goals in his first 10 games, Perry became the primary NHL player aged 40 or older to achieve that total since NHL legend Gordie Howe scored seven within the 1969-70 season. Perry now has 11 points (4-7=11) in 10 games this season, probably the most ever by a 40-year-old of their first 10 appearances with a franchise, surpassing Joe Thornton’s pace with Toronto in 2021.
Ultimately, Fiala won it for the Kings with a superb individual effort at 8:08 of the third period. First, he maneuvered past Erik Karlsson and lifted the puck over Murashov for his five hundredth NHL point, thereby ending the sport with a goal and an assist. Because of this, the 29-year-old Swiss winger now has 218 goals and 282 assists in 667 NHL games with Nashville, Minnesota, and Los Angeles. Moreover, Fiala’s goal tied him with Perry for the team lead in scoring.
Kopitar also scored for the Kings, and goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 31 shots. With the win, Los Angeles improved to 7-5-4, ending a stretch through which they’d lost three of 4 games. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, slid to 9-5-3 and can head to Sweden for a pair of games against Nashville.
The Kings are scheduled to practice on Monday in Montreal ahead of Tuesday night’s game versus the Canadiens.