Pittsburgh, PA (My Sportsbook) - Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby both registered a goal and picked up an assist, helping the sizzling Penguins crown the
Los Angeles Kings, 4-1, at Mellon Arena.
Bill Guerin and Tyler Kennedy also lit the lamp for Pittsburgh, which is a staggering 10-0-2 in its last 12 games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves to notch his 30th win of the season.
"We play with an aggressive style, and we talked about it today," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said. "Today, our fourth line is running faceoff plays, our third line is getting involved in the offense and being a factor every night. Our whole team has a role and a mentality of how they need to play every night."
Veteran pivot Michal Handzus netted the lone goal of the third period -- a power-play tally -- to spoil Fleury's shutout bid. Jonathan Quick surrendered four goals on 26 shots in the loss for Los Angeles, which has lost four of five.
"We battled, we fought hard," Quick said. "We just didn't have it today. I mean, I'm sure we wish we played a little bit better, but we battled until the end."
Crosby stole the puck from Los Angeles forward Jarret Stoll, switched to the backhand and beat Quick high on the glove side for a 1-0 Penguins lead with 7:27 to go in the opening frame.
Pittsburgh created a two-goal bulge on the power play. Crosby came off the right wall and sent the puck to the irrepressible Malkin sneaking in behind Quick for the subtle redirection with 2:32 remaining in the first period.
Kennedy made it 3-0 at 11:08 of the middle stanza, then Guerin fired a wrister from the high slot that beat a screened Quick on the stick side with 6:29 left in the second period.
Game Notes
Malkin leads the NHL with 71 assists and 104 points...The Penguins moved to 3-0-1 on a season-long eight-game homestand and are 21-12-3 at the Igloo this season...LA is 14-17-2 as the guest...The Kings finished 1-for-8 on the power play, while Pittsburgh was 1-for-4...LA activated right winger Justin Williams from injured reserve on Friday. Williams, who was acquired at the trade deadline in a three-way deal with Carolina and Edmonton, had not played since February 15th because of a broken hand.