In Los Angeles, the Kings took a 2-1 lead into the third period in their game with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
The Penguins’ Radim Zohorna tied the game, 2-2, and LA responded with three-goal outburst over a span of 83 seconds en route to a 6-2 thumping of Pittsburgh.
The Kings’ Mikey Anderson, Viktor Arvidsson, and Anze Kopitar (his second of the game) pushed LA into a 5-2 lead.
“Actually, after they scored, I thought the response from the bench was really good,” LA’s Sean Durzi said. “A lot of guys just talking it through, saying let’s bounce back. Good energy, guys really showed it. To get two in one shift was huge. Feeding off that, building off that, I thought the guys responded well.”
The Kings improved to 19-13-5.
Jonathan Quick made 27 saves in the LA win.
“We didn’t have our best, and, no, I didn’t see it coming,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve played pretty consistent hockey all year long. This, obviously, wasn’t our best. It was just a struggle all night long for our group.”
Kris Letang also scored for the Penguins.
“They play a fast, aggressive game. They forced us to play that way, and we were able to play with them tonight anyhow,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said.
Durzi and Dustin Brown also scored for the Kings.
“It seemed like some of their goals and just some of their chances were just plays through the slot or backdoor plays through down low, so I think that’s kind of something that jumps out that I don’t think we did a very good job of tonight,” LA’s Teddy Blueger said.
Pittsburgh dropped to 21-10-5).
“My experience of coaching in this league is when you go through it, an 80-plus-game schedule, that some nights it’s a struggle, and this was one of them for us,” Sullivan said.
Tristan Jarry made 39 saves in the Pens loss.
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