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The Los Angeles Kings’ three-game winning streak came to an end last night, losing 6-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Pittsburgh got on the board early, as Jan Rutta’s point shot got through traffic and past Cal Petersen, who was making his second straight start. Then despite the Kings outplaying the Penguins through the majority of the frame, Jake Guentzel put the Penguins up by two with a little over five minutes to go in the period, shoveling a pass from Kris Letang into an open net. Pittsburgh wasn’t done there, as only minutes later, a simple shot from the point managed to get through Petersen and while it didn’t cross the line, Rickard Rakell buried the loose puck, putting the Penguins up 3-0 through 20 minutes.
Pittsburgh added to their lead on a power play under five minutes into the second frame, as Jeff Petry picked a corner through traffic to beat Jonathan Quick, who had replaced Petersen. While the Penguins did have a goal called off later in the period, they still retained a four-goal lead heading into the second intermission.
The Penguins did end up extending the lead to five goals early in the third period, with Jeff Carter taking a breakaway pass from Kasperi Kapanen to score against his former team. Then under two minutes later, Phillip Danault committed a rare defensive error and turned the puck over right to Ryan Poehling, who put a shot through Quick from the slot. Carl Grundstrom did break Tristan Jarry’s shutout late in the game, but the Kings still fell 6-1.
Despite the lopsided loss, there were some positives. The Kings came out strong, outplaying Pittsburgh through most of the first period, and did still put 40 shots on net.
One key storyline though is that Cal Petersen is having a pretty brutal start to the season. He looked terrible on the third goal that he just couldn’t handle and through his first three appearances, he holds a disastrous .842 save percentage. Given he’s coming off a down year and his play was already a bit of a question mark coming into the season, it’s a bit concerning.
The Kings will wrap up their five-game road trip tomorrow against the Washington Capitals.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Kings announce opening night roster
Late goal sinks Kings in opening night loss to Golden Knights
Brandt Clarke makes NHL debut in Kings' 4-1 loss to Kraken
Kings pick up first win of season in Kevin Fiala's return to Minnesota
Kings earn key overtime win in Detroit
Kings battle back to defeat Predators in shootout 
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