FINAL – Kings 1, Penguins 6 – Kopitar, McLellan

The LA Kings were unable to extend their winning streak to four games with a 6-1 setback against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Carl Grundstrom scored the lone goal for the Kings, with forward Blake Lizotte and defenseman Brandt Clarke collecting the assists, the first point of Clarke’s NHL career.

Despite a shot disparity that favored the Kings more than 2-to-1, Pittsburgh jumped out of the gates with a three-goal first period.

First, defenseman Jan Rutta saw his shot from the point slip through a Jason Zucker screen and in for the game-opening goal less than five minutes into the game. The Penguins doubled their advantage with just shy of five minutes to play in the first, as defenseman Kris Letang rounded Petersen to the outside and hit Guentzel for the goal from close range. Pittsburgh added a third before the intermission as Petersen was unable to hold a shot from the point, with Rickard Rakell burying the rebound on the backhand for his second goal of the season.

The Kings made a goaltending change at the intermission, with Jonathan Quick replacing Petersen for the final 40 minutes.

The second period saw just one goal, which came for the hosts, as defenseman Jeff Petry placed his shot through traffic in front of Quick and inside the far post. Pittsburgh also had a goal disallowed for goaltender interference, after contact initiated by Bryan Rust pushed the puck over the goal line.

The Penguins added two more in the third period to take a six-goal advantage, with the goals coming less than two minutes apart. First, a stretch pass to Jeff Carter split the defense, which sent Carter in alone and he slid his shot through the five hole for the fifth goal of the night. Ryan Poehling added a shorthanded goal just over a minute and a half later for his first of the seasn.

The Kings capped off the scoring on the evening with a late power-play goal. Inside three minutes to play, Carl Grundstrom scored his first goal of the season with a quick release from the slot. Blake Lizotte and Brandt Clarke tallied the assists on the play, Clarke’s first point in the NHL.

Hear from Anze Kopitar and Todd McLellan following tonight’s game.

Anze Kopitar

Todd McLellan

On tonight’s game and his takeaways
When I look at the start we had, I thought we played the way we wanted to play. We played fast, we were aggressive, we forced them into situations where they had to turn the puck over and things were going pretty well for us. Even after the first goal, I thought we responded well, but by the time it got to three, unfortunately, it wasn’t the same way anymore and obviously we’d like to have a couple of those back in the first period. Even if we’re coming out of it at one, I think we’re in a much better state mentally, but with that being said, that’s the defensive side of it. I thought offensively, we had some opportunities with pucks on our tape cross-ice one timers, plays in and around the net where we weren’t particularly sharp offensively as well. We took it at both ends.

On having shot volume in the first period, but coming into the locker room three goals down
Obviously the group was disappointed. We can’t go down three, it’s simple as that. We came in between periods talking about some of the things that we haven’t seen almost all year from our group and we’re down by three. So, we’re still figuring a lot of things out.

On going back to Cal Petersen tonight and the need to get him going
I guess with Cal, there’s no secret, we’ve got to get him going. He’s got to play like he can play. He’s an NHL goaltender, he’s an outstanding young man who has played extremely well at this level. We’re trying, just like we would with forwards and defenseman, to get him to where he can be, and he has to be better. I can’t stand here and BS you guys, it is what it is. There are others that have to be better as well in certain situations, but we had the momentum and we couldn’t close it.

On the Lemieux – Lizotte – Grundstrom line tonight
I thought that, now that Grunny’s back in the lineup, he’s been effective on all the lines. I thought Brendan Lemieux has really skated well over the last three or four games and Lizzo’s intensity is showing up. They had a real good night. Not a lot of complaints about those three and if they can keep that going on, we’ve got one thing that we don’t have to worry about.

Notes –
– Defenseman Brandt Clarke collected his first career NHL point, an assist, during the third period. At 19 years and 253 days old, Clarke becomes the 18th youngest player in Kings history to record a point.
– Forward Carl Grundstrom scored his first goal of the season with a power-play goal.
– Forward Brendan Lemieux tied his single game career-high six shots on goal.
– The Kings put up a season-high 40 shots on goal.

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM local time, in Washington.