The Penguins finally snapped their losing streak with a 5-2 win over the LA Kings on Saturday night.
Tommy Novak got things going early with two quick goals. Novak has been a gamer all season, and his trade value might never be higher. Just saying.
The Kings got one back on a weird bounce before Egor Chinakhov finally unleashed that shot of his on the power play. Chinny shot the puck so hard that it went in and out of the net before the officials could even recognize it was a goal. After a review, Pittsburgh had a 3-1 lead.
LA fought back and appeared to tie the game, but an extremely close offside challenge saved the Penguins.
The biggest story of the night belonged to Sidney Crosby. Sid passed Marcel Dionne for sixth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list with Pittsburgh’s fourth goal. Considering Dionne spent most of his career with the Kings, it was pretty cool to see Sid pass him in the building where his jersey hangs from the rafters. Sid added an empty-net goal to finish things off.
I think the Penguins might have found Sid a winger, too. His name is Evgeni Malkin.
Geno played alongside Sid on the top line, and boy did those two look like guys who have been teammates for two decades. Geno looked like he had an extra step, Sid looked great all evening, and Malkin finished with three assists.
I’d keep these lines together for a while. Both of the top two lines looked more comfortable and consistent.
Sergei Murashov also deserves credit for an excellent game and his first win of the season. He played with more poise and fewer unnecessary athletic outbursts, which allowed him to shut down the Kings.
The Penguins were certainly the better team, but let’s not forget that the Kings are a bad hockey team.
Anaheim will be a significantly tougher test tonight. Maybe if they win that one, the season isn’t canceled just yet.
