The Los Angeles Kings are midway through their longest road trip of the season, and they will look to keep playing their best hockey of 2024 when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
The Kings have won seven of their last eight games, including a 5-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
This win came as a good recovery for Los Angeles after they lost 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
“We wanted a bounce-back game and I feel like we did that, and as a team,” said Kings forward Quinton Byfield. “The Rangers are a good team, so we kind of just answered the bell. We all just want to have a bounce-back game and that’s how it happened.”
Byfield, Warren Foegele, Adrian Kempe, and Alex Turcotte each had a goal and an assist against the Rangers.
“When we’re playing direct and north, we create stuff for the team,” Turcotte said. “I felt that in the New Jersey game, we didn’t really get a chance to forecheck because we weren’t really playing north.”
Anze Kopitar also had two assists and kept his streak of not taking any minor penalties this season.
“I think it’s positioning, it’s an understanding of the game,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller. “He never retaliates, he doesn’t get too high, too low on anything. Whether he makes a good play or a bad play, he’s steady for the next shift. He doesn’t let his emotions get him off his game.”
Kings forward Trevor Moore got an upper-body injury against New Jersey and did not practice on Monday.
The Kings left for Pittsburgh after playing three teams from the New York area. They still have road games against Philadelphia, Nashville, and Washington before returning home right before Christmas.
The Penguins have lost three of their last five games (2-2-1), most recently falling 3-2 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The loss was made worse because defenseman Marcus Pettersson left the game with a lower-body injury after being hit and crashing into the boards in the first period.
Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said on Monday that Pettersson will be out for a week or more. Tristan Jarry is expected to start in goal for the Penguins against the Kings.
Jarry, who was an All-Star in 2020 and 2022, has had a rough season and even spent part of November in the AHL. Among goalies with at least 10 appearances, he ranks 48th in the NHL with a .885 save percentage and 53rd with a 3.59 goals-against average.
Jarry was frustrated by the second goal he allowed against the Senators, a pass that hit a player’s skate and went into the net.
“I don’t know how you take that out of the game but I don’t think you should be allowed to stand there and let the guy shoot it off you,” Jarry said. “I think it’s almost impossible to stop. Like, he gets position on our player and he just parks himself at the back post and their guy just shoots it off him. It’s a tough play and I think it’s not part of hockey.”
Jarry has a 2-4-0 record in six career starts against the Kings with a .914 save percentage and a 3.16 GAA.
Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper, who started in their most recent game, has a 4-4-1 record all-time against the Penguins with a .910 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA.
