Blog : Checkmate: Penguins Roll Kings in LA

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Paul Martin, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Jussi Jokinen and Olli Maatta celebrate Jokinen's first period goal. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Penguins wasted little time in dispatching the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Thursday night. The Penguins scored early and often as they dominated play right from the opening faceoff. It didn't take the Penguins very long to get on the board, just 0:57 into the content, Penguins forward Evegeni Malkin scored to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. The play was setup due to Malkin's line doing an excellent job of fore-checking and creating traffic in front of King's starting goaltender Jonathan Quick. After Quick mishandled a routine glove save, and a failed clearing attempt, Penguins forward James Neal attempted a shot in the slot which was partially blocked and the puck squirted to Penguins forward, Jussi Jokinen who found the puck in traffic and made an outstanding no look behind-the-back pass to Malkin who, was left all alone to Quick's left, slam-dunked the puck home.
The Penguins continued to play the role of the aggressor, as they pummeled the Kings everywhere on the ice. In particular, Penguins forward Tanner Glass and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, where buzzing all over the ice, hitting any Kings' player they could at any opportunity they got. And it paid dividends for the Penguins. However the Kings, who have failed to score with any regularity the past few games, made the most of their first Power Play opportunity. 9 minutes in Chris Kunitz was called for hooking and :16 seconds later, Kings forward Anze Kopitar rifled a laser from the left-point high short side on Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, to tie the game at 1-1. But the game wouldn't remain tied for very long, in fact, it was tied for less than 1:30. Just :32 after the Kopitar's goal, the 2 Kings players were called for separate penalties on Evgeni Malkin. In the bizarre turn of events, the Penguins wound up with a 5-on-3, 2-man advantage for an entire 2:00. The Penguins wasted no time flashing their #1 Power Play unit, scoring :45 into the 1st Power Play. After buzzing and cycling the puck Crosby passed the puck to Jokinen who was behind the net. The kings failed to rotate in front of the crease, and Jokinen found Chris Kunitz open at the top of crease, and Kunitz roofed the shot up and over quick to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead. Then just :47 after that, the Penguins entered the Kings zone after the Kings cleared the zone led by a great pass from defenseman Matt Niskanen to Evgeni Malkin. As Malkin skated into the zone, he made a great pass from his left to his right and found Jokinen who took a quick snap-shot and beat Quick high glove side. Quick was very slow to move across his crease and Jokinen used his deft dexterity to one-time the snap-shot by Quick before he could get his angle to play the shot. The 1st period onslaught, died down a bit, but the Penguins remained the aggressor, highlighted by a great double pad save by Zatkoff during the Kings' 2nd Power Play opportunity. After denying a shot from the point with his right pad, Kings forward Jeff Carter had a chance to tuck the rebound attempt by Zatkoff, but Zatkoff slid quickly and robbed Carter of the goal, flashing his right pad again knocking the puck to the half boards.
The 2nd period started off with the Kings opting to pull Quick in favor of their backup goalie Martin Jones. The move was made in an attempt to "jump start" the lifeless Kings. It worked in theory not practice, as there was a bit more life out of the Kings, who brought early pressure, but only to be denied again by Zatkoff. By this point Zatkoff was in the zone. Helped by good a solid defensive presence, to include phenomenal work to clear the crease all night, Zatkoff was rarely screened which allowed him to square-up and see most every shot that came his way. Another thing that Zatkoff did well was manage and corral 2nd chance rebounds. The few he did give up, were either cleared by the defensemen or pushed to a spot on the ice that was "less harmful". In spite of the improved Kings performance, the Penguins out-hit and physically outplayed the Kings. Half-way through the 2nd period, after a terrible turnover by the Kings in the neutral zone, Tanner Glass skated down the right wing and fired a wicked "Crosby'esque" backhander home, high far post by Jones to give the Penguins a commanding 4-1 lead. After that, any attempt the Kings made to score, in particular Anze Kopitar, were denied by Zatkoff.
The third period was much of the same. Zatkoff arguably played his most complete game for the Penguins in this game, stonewalling every shot that came his way. Zatkoff's keynote save occurred when defenseman Brooks Orpik turned the puck over and Kings forward Justin William skated in on a breakaway. Zatkoff remained tall and stopped Williams, flashing the glove and making the save. The Kings managed to get two more Power Play opportunities, but they failed to generate any goals as Zatkoff and the PK unit denied all such attempts.
This was a great game for the Penguins who are on a their 2 game mini West Coast tour. It was imperative for the Penguins to come out hard and strong against the defensively stout Kings. And unlike their start against the Dallas Stars, the Penguins never let up and never gave in. It will be interesting to see if the Penguins can keep up that same intensity and drive against the Coyotes. I'm not saying they can't, but that sort of dominant effort and completeness to a game, is rarely duplicated in near back-to-back games on the road. If the Penguins can manage to keep the intensity high and impose their game early like they did against the Kings, they should be able to leave Phoenix with at least one point. Some game notes for the Penguins: Matt Niskanen again recorded a point, assisting on the Jokinen Power Play goal and moved his +/- to a league leading +30. Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists, as he continues his recent scoring hot streak. And Tanner Glass scored his 4th goal, and 2nd in two games. Defenseman Kris Letang was a scratch who was held out due to "sickness". He was replaced by Bortuzzo who made the most of his opportunity, crushing Kings players with ferocity and regularity.