PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins (9-5-3) gave their top goalie prospect his first NHL start, but it was their veteran stars who made the crucial errors, spotting the LA Kings (7-5-4) third period momentum, odd-man rushes, and eventually the game-winning goal.
LA beat the Penguins 3-2 at PPG Paints Arena Sunday afternoon.
The game was marked by the NHL debut of Penguins’ top prospect goalie Sergei Murashov, whose future appears to sparkle as brightly as any Penguins netminder prospect since Matt Murray appeared to walk upon frozen water in 2016.
The Russian goalie, who was a mere fourth-round pick in 2022, has had a meteoric rise. The recent injury to goalie Tristan Jarry merely created a spot that he didn’t have to take.
The Penguins were shaky at the start, and Murashov scrambled to keep the puck out of the net as the Penguins yielded several dangerous chances. LA even hit the post on what would have been their third shot of the game.
The Penguins composed the transferred nerves for their rookie goalie and overwhelmed LA for much of the first period with a swarming attack in the offensive zone for minutes on end.
Eventually, defenseman Parker Wotherspoon and Evgeni Malkin cycled off the right wall, and Malkin’s backhand pass was firmly planted into the net by Tommy Novak at 8:48 of the first period.
However, LA’s captain and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar took advantage of the rookie goalie later in the first period. On LA’s first power play, Kopitar snapped a pass through the crease, which Wotherspoon deflected past an unsuspecting Murashov at 14:58.
In the second period, the Penguins reclaimed the lead with a hockey play so pretty it could be stolen from the Louvre. On the Penguins’ league-leading power play, Anthony Mantha initiated a give-and-go with defenseman Kris Letang near the blue line, starting with a no-look pass between his legs.
Mantha (8) kept his stride and looped toward the net, where he received a quick return pass from Letang between the circles and whipped the shot past LA goalie Darcy Kuemper at 7:48.
After 40 minutes, Murashov stopped 18 of 19 shots, but he couldn’t stop the Penguins from making mistakes.
On a day of firsts, how LA scored the tying goal in the third period was anything but a new experience as Penguins’ veterans Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin were caught in the offensive zone, yielding a three-on-two odd-man rush for the tying goal.
LA stalwart Corey Perry (7) finished the rush with a precise wrist shot past Murashov’s blocker at 4:49 of the third period. And teams raced to the finish line, LA badly needing points to climb out of the crowded middle of the Western Conference, and the Penguins to remain near the top of the Eastern Conference before a week-long trip to Sweden for a pair of games against the Nashville Predators.
And for the winner, LA winger Kevin Fiala lulled Penguins d-man Erik Karlsson midway through the third period. Karlsson had Fiala covered as Fiala crossed into the Penguins zone, but Karlsson coasted as Fiala accelerated past him to the net.
Fiala (7) swept across the slot and lifted the shot over a sprawled Murashov for the winner at 11:52 of the third.
The Penguins’ other hyped rookie, Ben Kindel, was injured in the first period as he turned to shield the puck at the offensive blue line. LA defenseman was bearing down on Kindel, who turned at the last moment, and Clarke crunched the 182-pound rookie into the wall.
No penalty was assessed, and Kindel went to the room to be checked out. He returned early in the second period.
Murashov was good and made a few difficult saves. He stopped 24 of 27 before being pulled for the extra attacker. LA’s Darcy Kuemper made several sterling saves as well, stopping 31 of 33.
Defenseman Ryan Graves led the Penguins with five shots on goal.
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Categorized: Penguins Postgame