Tommy Novak and Sidney Crosby scored two goals each to help the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins end a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday evening.
Evgeni Malkin had three assists, Kris Letang contributed two assists, and Sergei Murashov made 26 saves for the Penguins in the opener of their three-game California trip.
Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 14 saves for the Kings, who have dropped two of three.
Declan Carlile took a wrist shot from the left point that was saved by Kuemper, but Novak put the rebound into the net for a 1-0 lead at 1:52 of the first period.
Novak made it 2-0 at 5:10 when he followed up on another stop by Kuemper and scored the rebound.
The Kings cut it to 2-1 at 9:55 of the first when a shot came off the end boards to Perry and he bunted the airborne puck into the net.
The Penguins were on a power play when Egor Chinakho hit the net with a wrist shot from the left circle with 29 seconds left in the first period, giving Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.
On ice-officials did not immediately witness the puck cross the goal line and Artemi Panarin committed a high-sticking penalty while play continued.
Pittsburgh did not score on that second period man-advantage, but the Kings were on a power play later in the second period when Laferriere’s shot from the right circle went off the skate of Pittsburgh defenseman Kaedan Korczak and past Murashov to cut the deficit to 3-2 at 3:07.
Adrian Kempe thought he tied it at 15:31 of the second period, but Pittsburgh successfully challenged for offsides, and the Penguins scored shortly afterward when Malkin’s shot deflected off Crosby’s body and into the net to make it 4-2 at 17:13.
Crosby scored into an empty net with 1:16 left to seal the victory for Pittsburgh.
