yardbarker
The Pittsburgh Penguins halted a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday evening, powered by two goals apiece from Sidney Crosby and Tommy Novak.
Evgeni Malkin contributed three assists, Kris Letang added two helpers, and goaltender Sergei Murashov turned aside 26 shots for Pittsburgh in the opener of its three-game California road trip.
Corey Perry and Alex Laferriere scored for Los Angeles, which has now lost two of its last three games. Darcy Kuemper made 14 saves in the defeat.
Novak opened the scoring at 1:52 of the first period, converting a rebound after Kuemper stopped Declan Carlile's wrist shot from the left point. Novak struck again at 5:10, once more burying a rebound after another Kuemper save to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead.
The Kings halved the deficit at 9:55 of the first when a shot caromed off the end boards to Perry, who batted the airborne puck into the net. Pittsburgh restored its two-goal cushion with 29 seconds left in the period when Egor Chinakho scored on a power play with a wrist shot from the left circle.
Officials did not immediately see the puck cross the goal line, and play continued until Artemi Panarin was called for high-sticking. The Penguins failed to score on that second-period man-advantage, but the Kings later converted on a power play when Laferriere's shot from the right circle deflected off the skate of Pittsburgh defenseman Kaedan Korczak and past Murashov at 3:07, making it 3-2.
Adrian Kempe appeared to tie the game at 15:31 of the second period, but Pittsburgh successfully challenged for offsides, nullifying the goal. Moments later, the Penguins capitalized when Malkin's shot deflected off Crosby's body and into the net at 17:13, extending the lead to 4-2.
Crosby sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:16 remaining.
Originally reported by yardbarker.