(SportsNetwork.com) – The Pittsburgh Penguins are coming off consecutive
victories and they hope to stay hot Thursday when they welcome the defending
Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings to the Steel City.
Pittsburgh halted a two-game slide with Saturday’s 3-0 win in Nashville and
followed by slamming the New Jersey Devils in the opener of a three-game
homestand on Tuesday.
The Penguins trailed the Devils 3-1 in the early stages of the second period,
but ended the contest with seven unanswered goals to earn an 8-3 blowout
victory. Craig Adams’ goal in the second period put the Penguins ahead for
good, while Sidney Crosby scored twice in the resounding victory.
Pascal Dupuis, Blake Comeau, Steve Downie and Patric Hornqvist each posted a
goal and an assist for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 shots in the
win.
“That’s what great teams do,” said Dupuis. “They get their top guys out that
are chipping in night in and night out and you have the guys that are coming
up big any given night. That’s how you win games. That’s how you win
championships.”
Crosby enters Thursday second in the league with 14 points and is trailing
Tyler Seguin of Dallas by one point. Tyler Toffoli of the Kings is just one
behind Crosby with 13 points off five goals and eight assists.
Crosby has one goal and six helpers in five career games against the Kings,
while Fleury is 4-2-0 with a 2.26 goals against average in his career versus
L.A.
The Kings are hoping to rebound tonight after having a six-game winning streak
snapped in controversial fashion Tuesday in Philadelphia. After a video
review, former Kings forward Brayden Schenn was awarded the game-winner with
2:24 remaining in overtime.
Schenn skated in all alone from the hosts’ side of center ice in the neutral
zone and shot low, but while Kings netminder Jonathan Quick smothered the shot
with his pads, the puck was loose for a second. Schenn made a hard stop in the
crease and the force of covering the rebound pushed Quick into the net with
the puck presumably over the goal line.
The original call did not indicate a goal, but upon a conference of all four
officials plus a brief review, the on-ice decision was overruled, giving the
Flyers the 2-1 victory.
“I don’t know the exact ruling on that because they seem to change it every
year,” Quick said following the loss. “But usually you’re not allowed to push
the goalie into the net, so I don’t know. Maybe they changed it again on us.”
Toffoli and former Flyers captain Mike Richards scored for the Kings, with
Quick making 40 saves in the setback.
The Kings played Tuesday’s game with just 11 forwards, but they hope centerman
Anze Kopitar (upper body) can play tonight after sitting out against the
Flyers. Fellow forward Trevor Lewis also is questionable with an upper-body
injury, while winger Marian Gaborik is doubtful with an upper-body issue of
his own.
L.A. will aim for its first road win tonight when it plays the second test of
a five-game trek. The Kings are 0-0-2 as the visiting team this season, while
posting a 6-1-0 record at home.
Pittsburgh has won six of the last eight meetings versus the Kings. L.A. did
halt a three-game road skid in this series with a 3-2 win at Consol Energy
Center on March 27.
With the Kings also playing tomorrow night in Detroit, Martin Jones could get
his second start of the season in on of the next two games.
