PITTSBURGH — It was hardly a complete effort. But the Penguins on Thursday skated away with a 6-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings — and plenty to feel good about.
Three offseason pickups buried their first goals in black and gold at PPG Paints Arena. Rickard Rakell certainly scored his prettiest since joining the team this past spring. And Jeff Carter, facing off against his former team, tallied one, too.
Their penalty kill delivered in a big spot. Tristan Jarry sharply made 39 saves.
Oh, and they held onto a multi-goal lead, unlike Monday’s 3-2 loss to Montreal.
They can focus on all that, not the numbers that actually say they got outplayed.
Look at the 3-0 score after one period and a reasonable human would assume the Penguins were in control. Nope. The Kings had twice as much offensive zone time as the Penguins and three times as many shots from the slot, per Sportlogiq.
The Penguins were on their heels in the game’s first four minutes. Then Jan Rutta scored through a tremendous Jason Zucker screen to make it 1-0. For Rutta, who came over from Tampa Bay this summer, it was his first goal with Pittsburgh.
That proved to be a brief reprieve from a barrage of blasts from the visitors, who were out-shooting the Penguins 13-3 before Jake Guentzel made it 2-0.
Rakell’s balletic goal pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to three. Cal Petersen let a rebound trickle out after a harmless shot from afar. Rakell cut through the blue paint behind Petersen, teetering on his right skate to steer clear of the goalie. The winger then blindly slid the skittering puck back between that skate and the left post.
That was the final straw for Kings coach Todd McLellan. He pulled Peterson after the period. Jonathan Quick replaced Peterson, who stopped just five shots.
Jeff Petry welcomed in Quick with his first goal in a Penguins sweater. With Zucker parked in front again, Petry’s wrister from Monroeville got through the goalie.
With the Penguins up 4-0 late in the second period, the Kings got an opportunity to sneak back into it when Guentzel took a double minor. They killed both.
Carter beat Quick, who was his teammate for two Stanley Cup titles with the Kings on a breakaway. Then newcomer Ryan Poehling scored a short-handed goal.
Grundstrom scored a power-play goal with 2:28 left to spoil Jarry’s shutout bid.
ICE CHIPS
— Guentzel exited the game in the third period after a Kris Letang shot cracked him in the face. He left blood behind him as he skated off to the dressing room.
— Jarry’s play in the first period might go overlooked. But he kept L.A. scoreless with a few nice saves. The best came when Carl Grundstrom made a sneaky pass from behind the net out to Blake Lizotte. Not fooled, Jarry shut down Lizotte.
— Evgeni Malkin’s effort on defense has been evident in this young season. It stood out again versus the Kings. He was regularly spotted rushing back below the dots inside his zone and making a beeline into the action, instead of looping by it.
— Just before Petry’s goal, Quick made a sprawling paddle save on Sidney Crosby, swatting a skipping puck out of the air just before it crossed over the goal line.
— Teddy Blueger missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. Coach Mike Sullivan said Wednesday that Blueger has not suffered a setback, adding that he is always hesitant to provide timetables for a player’s recovery from injury because it is not always linear. The center did participate in the morning skate.
— The win was Sullivan’s 300th as head coach of the Penguins.
STAT N’AT
36.4% — expected 5-on-5 goals percentage for the Penguins through two periods, per Natural Stat Trick. The Kings had nine high-danger chances to their three.
COMING UP
The Penguins are planning to practice Friday in Cranberry. On Saturday, they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first stop on their nine-day, five-city road trip.
