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 in the offensive zone, Evgeni Malkin shook free and passed to defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who set up forward Tommy Novak in the slot. Novak buried his second goal of the season, giving the Penguins a 1-0 advantage.
The Kings struck back later in the period with a power-play goal, making it their third consecutive game with a man-advantage score. Kevin Fiala battled along the boards and moved the puck to Anze Kopitar, whose cross-crease pass deflected off Wotherspoon into the net, tying the game at 1.
The Penguins regained the lead at the end 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 in the third period, the Kings evened the score thanks to forward Corey Perry. After Trevor Moore carried the puck to the offensive blue line, he passed to Cody Ceci, who then set up Perry in the high slot. From there, Perry beat rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov on the blocker side for his seventh goal of the season, tying the contest 2-2.
With seven goals in his first 10 games, Perry became the first NHL player aged 40 or older to reach that total since NHL legend Gordie Howe scored seven in the 1969-70 season. Perry now has 11 points (4-7=11) in 10 games this season, the most ever by a 40-year-old in 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 brilliant individual effort at 8:08 of the third period. First, he maneuvered past Erik Karlsson and lifted the puck over Murashov for his 500th NHL point, thereby finishing the game with a goal and an assist. As a result, the 29-year-old Swiss winger now has 218 goals and 282 assists in 667 NHL games with Nashville, Minnesota, and Los Angeles. Furthermore, 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 in which they had lost three of four games. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, slid to 9-5-3 and will 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.
