Pittsburgh (12-3-0) at Los Angeles (9-4-2)

  • Game info: 10:30 pm EST Thu Nov 5, 2009
  • TV: FSPI, FSW

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN, STATS Senior Writer Nov 4, 12:42 pm EST

Preview | Box Score | Recap | Highlights
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting close to matching the NHL record for road victories to start a season.

Extending their run away from home could be difficult as they get set to face the league’s leading scorer in Los Angeles.

The Penguins look to open 8-0 on the road when they meet Anze Kopitar(notes) and the Kings on Thursday night.

Pittsburgh (12-3-0) began a four-game trip with a 4-3 victory over Anaheim on Tuesday, pulling within three wins of tying the league record set in 2006-07 by Buffalo, which opened with 10 consecutive road victories.

Marc-Andre Fleury(notes) made 26 saves for the Penguins, who have the most points in the Eastern Conference and are 2-1-0 playing without injured superstar Evgeni Malkin(notes).

“The way we’ve gotten them hasn’t been perfect,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “But we battle and block shots, and our goalie makes a big save. It hasn’t been as pretty as some might like, but we keep working hard.”

Pascal Dupuis(notes), Michael Rupp(notes), Kris Letang(notes) and Alex Goligoski(notes) all scored for the Penguins, who won in California for just the second time since January 1999 with two goals in the third period.

Pittsburgh also continues to play without injured regulars Sergei Gonchar(notes) and Max Talbot(notes).

“We’re just trying to do our best, and we’re adjusting to new things,” center Sidney Crosby(notes) said. “I think that it’s difficult when you lose two guys (Malkin and Gonchar) like we’ve lost. We’ve just got to adjust and find ways to be successful.”

Malkin led the league in points last season and Crosby finished third, but it’s Kopitar who is setting the early pace in 2009-10 with 24. Kopitar had a goal and an assist Monday as Los Angeles scored the final four goals in a 5-3 victory at Phoenix.

Ryan Smyth(notes) scored twice and had two assists while defenseman Drew Doughty(notes) recorded the go-ahead goal with 4:51 remaining for the Kings, who trailed 3-1 entering the final minute of the second period.

“I thought we had a little lull there in the second,” Smyth said. “We took the lead but we built some character in this locker room tonight going into the third and I think that was a big step.”

Los Angeles (9-4-2) has lost three straight to Pittsburgh since winning five in a row in the series Feb. 27, 2002-Oct. 10, 2003. Crosby had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory March 20 in the lone meeting last season to bring his point total to five in two games versus Los Angeles.

Fleury is 2-1-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average in three starts against the Kings. He has a 3.44 GAA in his six road starts this season.

Kopitar has one assist in three games against the Penguins.

Updated Nov 4, 12:42 pm EST
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Team Comparison

Team G W L OTL Pts Standings GF GA Road/Home
Pittsburgh 25 17 8 0 34 1st, Atlantic 77 69 9-4-0 Road
Los Angeles 25 14 9 2 30 2nd, Pacific 76 76 5-4-1 Home

Notes

The Penguins outshot the Flyers, 15-5, in the first period but managed just 13 over the final 40 minutes. ... C Evgeni Malkin registered a team-high four shots on goal. ... C Sidney Crosby was impressive in the faceoff circles, winning 15 of his 22 draws. ... D Philippe Boucher was in the lineup in place of D Kris Letang, who has an undisclosed injury. RW Miroslav Satan made his first appearance for Pittsburgh since being sent to the minors on March 4. Satan replaced RW Petr Sykora, who failed to record a point in the first four games of the series.

Apr 23, 10:55 pm EDT

The Kings finished 34-37-11 on the season. ... The Kings finished with 79 points this season, eight more than last season and 11 more than 2006-07. ... RW Anze Kopitar finished as Los Angeles' leading scorer for second straight season with 66 points. ... Captain C Dustin Brown won the Bill Libby Memorial Award as the team's MVP. ... Rookie D Drew Doughty won the Mark Bavis Memorial Award as the team's best newcomer, and the Oustanding Defenseman award.

Apr 11, 9:39 pm EDT
NHL

117 Comments

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  1. dropthegloves
    117. Posted by dropthegloves Sat Nov 7 9:21pm EST

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    No TV. Wow! Kings couldn't win day game. 1:00pm Pacific is rare. Preds had extra jumps. Kings were 6-0-2 in their last eight games. 14 points in 8 games is pretty dawn good. This is 3rd time time they lost at home after they dropped the home opener to Coyotes. Kings did return the favor to Coyotes by beating them twice in Phoenix. Kopitar didn't score. Kings hedl Sidney Crosby scoreless on Thursday, Preds held Anze Kopitar scoreless. They should have won that game, Preds were without Jason Arnott. Kings almost got shutout by Dan Ellis and the Preds. Kings will go on the road for 5 games starting Monday at the windy city. Then on to Carolina. I hope Kings will earn at least 5-7 points out of this road trip. It is going to be tough. Go Kings
  2. Striker
    116. Posted by Striker Sat Nov 7 7:22pm EST

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    You know, I get a kick out of some of these posters on here. Let's face the facts. Yes, the Kings BEAT the Pens Thursday night. No doubt about that whatsover. The KINGS played a BETTER game. They OUTHIT, OUTHUSSLED, and OUTPLAYED the Pens!! The Kings deserved that WIN!! But it's only ONE win, people. What did the Kings do TODAY?? Well, they LOST to the Nashville Predators. YES, the PREDATORS!!! So much for the great win over the Pens huh?? I guess LA hasn't had much to brag about lately so beating the 'Champs' was the best thing to happen since....well....the Lakers won the NBA Championship back in June. And also keep in mind who the Pens were without in that game. Happens all of the time and to all of the teams in this league. Injuries do decide how far a team goes and it takes its toll during the season. Congrats to the Kings and I hope they go further than expected this year. But I will caution one thing...if this was a 'series' of games against the Pens...not sure LA would come out on top. But yes, they looked damn good Thurs night for sure.
  3. dropthegloves
    115. Posted by dropthegloves Sat Nov 7 2:26pm EST

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    What happened? Luongo-less Canucks lost. With Cory Schneider in net, Vancouver still have enough fire power to win the game. It was close, but Stars have 1 extra goal. Luongo was out since last week. Not good. Avs won 6 straight at home. Kings, Avs, and Coyotes surprise a lot of people. They will make it to the playoffs. I nice to see the Kings beat Penguins at Staples Center on Thu 11/05/09. The have won 7 straight on the road, but the Kings stop them on the 8th game. Kings scored 5 times on Marc-Andre Fleury. Sidney Crosby was held scoreless. He' s got 1 shot and no goal. Kings vs Predators today at 1:00PM Pacific at Staples Center. Anze Kopitar is only 22 years old and the league leader in scoring maybe 1 point behind Alex Ovechin. He scored 2 goal on Thursday. Now he's got 13 goals. Go Kings!
  4. dropthegloves
    114. Posted by dropthegloves Sat Nov 7 2:26pm EST

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    What happened? Luongo-less Canucks lost. With Cory Schneider in net, Vancouver still have enough fire power to win the game. It was close, but Stars have 1 extra goal. Luongo was out since last week. Not good. Avs won 6 straight at home. Kings, Avs, and Coyotes surprise a lot of people. They will make it to the playoffs. I nice to see the Kings beat Penguins at Staples Center on Thu 11/05/09. The have won 7 straight on the road, but the Kings stop them on the 8th game. Kings scored 5 times on Marc-Andre Fleury. Sidney Crosby was held scoreless. He' s got 1 shot and no goal. Kings vs Predators today at 1:00PM Pacific at Staples Center. Anze Kopitar is only 22 years old and the league leader in scoring maybe 1 point behind Alex Ovechin. He scored 2 goal on Thursday. Now he's got 13 goals. Go Kings!
  5. dropthegloves
    113. Posted by dropthegloves Sat Nov 7 10:57am EST

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    Wow 112 posts when Kings beat the might Penguins. They won 7 straight, but the Kings stop them on the 8th. Sindey Crosby was held to 1 shot and no goal. Go Kings!
  6. KathyF
    112. Posted by KathyF Sat Nov 7 8:55am EST

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    Way to go, Kings!!! Good win.
  7. Chris F
    111. Posted by Chris F Sat Nov 7 12:40am EST

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    To all the Pen fans bashing us Kings fans, we've dealt with a crappy team for a long, long time and you guys are currently holding the Cup so let us enjoy the fact that we kicked your asses and also let us enjoy the Kings' solid start to this season. Kopitar's been the man so far and the chemistry on the team is evident when they play...GO KINGS!!!
  8. R Gomez
    110. Posted by R Gomez Fri Nov 6 11:37pm EST

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    It was awesome to shut up the loud mouth bangwagon pen fans at the Staple Center....

    When a sore loser Pen fan couldn't handle losing and

    a King fan was waving at the him "Good bye" the Pen fan says to the King fan "See you in hell."

    The King fan replies "SORRY, I HAVE NO PLANS OF GOING TO PITTSBURGH!"

    The Pen fan just turned and walked away with is penguin tail between his legs while everyone laughed at him.

    IT WAS CLASSIC!!!!!... HA HA HA HA
  9. Al
    109. Posted by Al Fri Nov 6 7:28pm EST

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    Are the Kings for real??? Let's hope so! Woo hoo last night was great.
  10. ZZZZ
    108. Posted by ZZZZ Fri Nov 6 7:16pm EST

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    Ha, Ha Ha,.....what a bunch of losers. I bet Sindy slept curled up in Mario's arms last night. Kings kicked Pen-whine ass.
  11. Dutch
    107. Posted by Dutch Fri Nov 6 6:51pm EST

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    @106 Brett Dubya, Hey your most intelligent post ever!
  12. Chiqis
    106. Posted by Chiqis Fri Nov 6 6:24pm EST

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    Looks like the Wings are off to a slow start thus far. Could that be one of this years' surprises or was that likely to happen? Hmm. rhetorical questions can be a paradox.
  13. Brett W
    105. Posted by Brett W Fri Nov 6 6:18pm EST

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    All hail the Pittsburgh Penguins the new kings of the NHL.
  14. Poopfacez
    104. Posted by Poopfacez Fri Nov 6 5:46pm EST

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    Crosby =
    1 shot
    No points
    minus 1

    ---
  15. jacka$$-FINDER
    103. Posted by jacka$$-FINDER Fri Nov 6 5:27pm EST

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    @ juicy Jay ... pay no mind to the youngster Patty C... he's your typical jacka$$ poster that doesn't add anything to the thread....
  16. Chiqis
    102. Posted by Chiqis Fri Nov 6 5:26pm EST

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    I've been a Pens fan before Mario arrived and didn't care who was on the team and I still was loyal to them, win or lose. I guess that makes me a bandwagon fan since I don't remember the starting lineup in 1988. Oh well, maybe Wiki will tell me. High fives to all the Pens fans out there. One more thing: Every season is filled with surprises here and there. Colorado was predicted to be in the cellar. They're not there at the moment but could end up there. Who knows how it will go for them? It's anybody's guess. The Pens were ranked number 1 by many sources in the pre-season and they're in the lead at the present time (despite a humiliating loss, which happens sometimes). My point is: who knows what's in store this early in the season. But, being that the Pens made it to the Cup 2 years in a row would indicate that they're hungry to get there again and they are the team to beat once again. Go Pens!
  17. WilLL
    101. Posted by WilLL Fri Nov 6 5:15pm EST

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    Go Kings Go!
  18. Agent Girl
    100. Posted by Agent Girl Fri Nov 6 5:10pm EST

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    No worries Angelica :)
  19. Dutch
    99. Posted by Dutch Fri Nov 6 5:04pm EST

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    @Dan I've been a Penguins fan since the mid 80s when I started watching Hockey. Why would people pay good money to go to Penguins games in the early 2000s unless they wanted to go see the other team play? Good grief their top scorer in the final year before the lockout was defenseman Dicky Tarnstrom! Dick Tarnstrom! That isn't a misprint! Also I didn't say I was afraid of going to a game in philly or washington, although that'd be a pretty long flight for me, I was talking about this month when the hated flyers come to LA. I expect the usual thuggery in the stands like there always has been in years past. As for flyer games in philly you get guys going to games with their kids wearing opposing teams colors getting cussed out, beer thrown at them etc.. Epic Fail! @IBG you have friends who are yankees fans and they're still your friends? Jeesh. not sure how big you are on the phillies but I like them not at all, however I did refrain from any commenting during the WS as the phils were definitely the lesser of two evils. NY fankees best team money can buy!
  20. Jose H R
    98. Posted by Jose H R Fri Nov 6 5:04pm EST

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    Pround to be a kings fan good job !!!!!!!
  21. Reppin 4rm Big D to Jrzy
    97. Posted by Reppin 4rm Big D to Jrzy Fri Nov 6 4:58pm EST

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    the pacific division is wide open(san jose is the eagles of the nhl, anaheim is obviously re-tooling since they let pronger and others go, dallas is too old and fragile in key positions and turco is playin more like jerk-o as the years progress, and phx do we even need to start) for LA to make some serious noise, i'm talking a 5th or 6th seed if they dont clinch.....after palffy and blake left i knew they would be reeling a bit but they have struck oil w/ kopitar/brown/stoll/simmonds/quick/johnson/doughty.....i mean if you simulate in the game(nhl 10) then 9 seasons outta ten these guys blossom into superstars and kopitar and quick are already showin it on the ice and johnson and doughty have both been invited to olympic tryouts and i think they are 19 and 21 respectively....LA has the old guys(smyth, scuderi, etc) to lead these young guns thru the playoff push in the reg. season.....i hope they make it....sick of Mannywood and Kobe be the only thing worthy of mentioning in LA sports....more of kopi's animal slippers and syrup-free pancakes
  22. IBG
    96. Posted by IBG Fri Nov 6 4:22pm EST

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    similar to how you consistently throw dung at anything even remotely flyer related? Don't believe the hype, if I am not mistaken you have never been to a Flyers game in Philly. Two of my friends are transplanted gear-waring-yankee fans here in south philly. They are alive and doing well, nothing happened. Most big city stadiums are rough on the opposing fans. I go incognito to NY games so I am not bothered.
  23. Dan
    95. Posted by Dan Fri Nov 6 4:16pm EST

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    Dutch- you must look like the arse you seem to be on yahoo boards or you're just afraid of your own shadow if you are so scared to go to Flyers/Caps arenas.
  24. Dan
    94. Posted by Dan Fri Nov 6 4:13pm EST

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    Impeach:

    You forgot all of the Pens fans that try and tell you how long they have been fans. It eerily reminds me of Yankees fans. They all jumped on the wagon in the 90's and can't tell you a thing about the team before that. I think its safe to assume that most Pens fans couldn't tell you a thing about the team before Mario. I lived in the Burg before Mario came and you couldn't pay someone to go to a games. Same way in the early 2000's when they were tanking seasons for draft picks and almost losing their team.

    Pens fans, please look in the mirror and be honest with your self. Its ok we won't respect you any less cause that's not possible.
  25. Dutch
    93. Posted by Dutch Fri Nov 6 4:02pm EST

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    @91 IBG, Well was I wrong? Who else is posting stupid crap whenever the Penguins lose? flyers, craps and Wings fans. One thing that was certainly nice about attending games in LA or Anaheim is visiting fans can enjoy the game without fear for their safety. Can you say the same about philly? Absolutely not. In light of the fact that Staples Center has metal detectors, I'll be carrying a rubber riot baton and a can of mace for protection when the fart-head flyers come to town on the 18th!
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