Pittsburgh Penguins Come Up Short To Kings In Shootout

After a four game road trip, the Pittsburgh Penguins were back at CONSOL Energy Center to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night.

2. 92. 3. 67. Final

The Pittsburgh Penguins broke even on their four game road trip, salvaging wins in San Jose and Colorado along with their losses to Los Angeles and Anaheim. The trip featured a very thorough shellacking of the Pens by the Kings, where the team was outplayed in every facet of the game by LA.

The hope was that Friday night would be a touch of revenge.

LA dominated the vast majority of the first period. 7:34 into the frame Tanner Pearson juked Ian Cole at the blueline and headed in on Marc-Andre Fleury. David Warsofsky chose to play the pass instead of Pearson and the LA Kings forward got an in-tight shot past Fleury for an early 1-0 lead.

The second period was better for the Pens, who began to show a little fight and push back on their aggressors as the period wore on.

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A Jeff Carter slash on Evgeni Malkin got the Russian’s juices flowing and he went at Carter and then nearly everyone else on the ice joined in for a good ole rugby scrum.

The scuffle woke the CONSOL crowd and the Pittsburgh Penguins as well.

During 4-on-4 hockey less than two minutes later, Matt Cullen battled with the puck and found himself behind Jonathan Quick‘s net. From there he hit Eric Fehr with a feed for a gorgeous goal to tie things up. Things remained tied heading into the third period.

In the third the Kings scored just 34 seconds in. Jake Muzzin beat Fleury with a shot that the goalie would definitely love to have back. 2-1 Kings. The Pens continued to battle the entire period but were unable to get anything going until pulling Marc-Andre Fleury.

With 2:10 left in regulation and the extra attacker on, Evgeni Malkin put home a rebound from a Phil Kessel shot while caught in a crowd of sticks and jerseys. Geno’s celebration was primal. And awesome.

3-on-3 was an absolute thrill fest but was ultimately unable to decide the game.

In the shootout, David Perron scored for the Penguins but it was not enough. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik both beat Marc-Andre Fleury and the Kings won the game 3-2 via a four round shootout.

Player Performance

We’re going to have to start a workplace counter for Phil Kessel it seems. “Days Since Kessel Hit Wide Open Net.”

Rob Scuderi was back in the lineup. Enough said.

Rough night for Ian Cole. Then again, it’s a rough night for anyone paired with Scuderi. At least the first Kings goal was a Cole/Warsofsky production and not a Cole/Scuderi one. If Scuds have been on the ice for a goal against less than ten minutes into the first period the Pittsburgh Penguins fanbase might have spontaneously combusted.

Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby had a decent game overall, producing four shots and finishing 53% overall in the faceoff dot. One has to continue to wonder, though, where are the points?

System or no, proper linemates or no, shouldn’t the best player in the world be able to make something happen on his own a little more often than we’re seeing? Then again, he is hitting passes to set up shots for his teammates. Sooner or later they’ll start burying them. Hopefully. Maybe.

Marc-Andre Fleury had some mortal moments, yet still did an admirable job in carrying the Pittsburgh Penguins to the loser point. He stopped 38 of 40 shots he faced. While he’d probably love to have another crack at both regulation goals, at a certain point it’s on the rest of the team to bail Fleury out after he’s been carrying their dead weight all season.

Olli Maatta was on the ice for 25:01 tonight. It was also his first night without a point since returning from injury.

Forward Chris Kunitz extended his point streak to five games and now has eight points in five games in the month of December.

No word on why Daniel Sprong keeps getting locked in the locker room during the second intermission of each game, but suffice to say Mike Johnston has not let him sniff the ice during a third period since making his way back into the lineup.

Pittsburgh Penguins Player of the Game

Did anyone doubt that if the game were tied late in the third that the goalscorer would be Evgeni Malkin?

He managed 10 shots on net tonight and played strong throughout, culminating with the late tying goal. He also drew three penalties. Though the line is oft repeated and mildly annoying, for the time being this is Geno’s team.

He’s the one taking the bull by the horns in this moment, and Pens fans are reduced to hoping the removal of Mike Johnston (or some other shift) reignites Sidney Crosby.

The Big Picture

While it doesn’t necessarily show in the goals department, the offense has been much better at zone entries and generating shots recently than what we saw Saturday in Los Angeles. With that said, the Pens are still too much of a work in progress under Mike Johnston for him to continue on if they don’t snap out of this funk, though.

Next: Pittsburgh Penguins Desperately Need Lineup Changes

Rob Scuderi was once again in the lineup with Kris Letang (also once again) injured.

Adam Clendening must wake up every morning and eagerly check his phone only to throw it down and go back to bed in disgust. If Letang is back Monday and Scuderi is still in over anyone else who is healthy, Jim Rutherford should fire Johnston before he can even get behind the bench to start the first period.

Baby steps are happening, but the Pittsburgh Penguins still lack the decision making from management and the coaching staff to help them get over their hump. Well, there’s also the matter of being unable to finish open looks but I digress.

The Penguins play Monday night at home against the Washington Capitals.

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