Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Recap: Los Angeles vs. Pittsburgh

Anze Kopitar scored two goals, as the Los Angeles Kings tallied four times in the third period to post a 5-2 win over the Penguins, sending Pittsburgh to its first loss in eight road games this season.

Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll both registered a goal and an assist for the Kings, who are 6-0-2 in their last eight games. Michal Handzus also lit the lamp and Justin Williams collected two assists, while Jonathan Quick made 21 saves in the win.

"Obviously you don't want to play the body too often, but it is definitely good to know that we can come out and play that way," said Brown. "They are the defending Stanley Cup champions and 7-0 on the road, so I think it was more about what we did than what they didn't do. We got a lot of speed going through the middle, which I think is tough to play against."

Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz scored for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced in defeat.

"I think we would have liked to have been a little better. We didn't play great and sometimes you get away with that. It's a good lesson for us," said Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby. "We have gotten away with bad periods in the past but tonight we didn't. We didn't capitalize on our chances and we didn't play well in the third and in a tight game like that you can't afford for that to happen."

Kopitar scored on a wraparound to tie the game at two at 6:17 of the third, then Stoll and Handzus scored 23 seconds apart to blow the game open.

"We were doing some really good stuff in the second period and we outshot them by a lot," said Kopitar. "That just shows our character; sticking with it and not giving up. That is what the team is made of. We just kept pouring it on and putting shots on net. Sooner or later, we knew [Fleury] would fold, and we managed to score four goals."

Stoll skated down the slot, gathered a pass from Brown and fired a shot that eluded Fleury on the blocker side. Handzus made it 4-2 at 12:32.

Brown's tally during a delayed penalty cemented the victory with 2:30 to play.

It was a chaotic start to the game, with each club scoring on its first shot.

Kopitar pulled the puck to the backhand and deposited it home 27 seconds into the contest, but Staal quickly countered for the Penguins, drilling a Chris Conner drop pass from just inside the blue line past Quick at 1:10 of the opening period.

Pittsburgh moved ahead when Kunitz positioned himself in front of the Los Angeles netminder and redirected Brooks Orpik's rising shot with 9:09 remaining in the middle stanza.

Game Notes