*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
It was a battle of two former cup dynasties, and the eastern side came out on top. Jeff Carter scored, Jeff Petry had a goal and two assists, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Los Angeles Kings with a 6-1 victory on Thursday night in Pittsburgh.
Two former dynasties in the 2010's did battle in Pittsburgh early on in the season, and the ever competitive Penguins kept the edge, striking early and often to beat the Kings, improving a 3-0-1 record. It was also head coach Mike Sullivan's 300th victory behind the Penguins bench, and 370th of all time.
Sullivan said of the milestone that "It's humbling. It means a lot. I'm grateful to the players. They're the guys that go out there and earn the wins for us. These guys that I've been coaching in my time here work so hard to bring the success that we've had on the ice. I'm grateful to those guys. They're the ones that make the sacrifices every day."
Jan Rutta got the Penguins started, scoring 4:04 into the game to give the Penguins an early 1-0 lead. Jake Guentzel then scored at the 14:35 mark of the period, followed by a goal from Rickard Rakell at the 18:19 mark, making it a 3-0 Penguins lead after one period of play.
The only goal of the second came from Petry, which made the score 4-0 for the Penguins. Carter started the scoring in the 3rd period, making it a 5-0 game 3:01 into the period, assisted by Petry and Kasperi Kapanen. Ryan Poehling scored shorthanded to make it 6-0 before Carl Grundstrom scored to put the Kings on the board late, with the final score being 6-1 Penguins.
Penguins top goalie Tristan Jarry was in net for this one, picking up the win to improve his record to 3-0-0 to start the season. He has a .952 save percentage to start the season, and saved 39 of the 40 shots he faced to get a .975 save percentage in this win.
Jarry said of his success that "I think I just want to get better every year. Every year, I want to take a step. Every year I come in, I'm a little bit more mature. I have a little more, I guess, games under me. So just being able to start, knowing what to expect, it does nothing but help."
It was Cal Petersen who started for the Kings, saving 6 of 9 shots to take the loss, falling to 2-1-0 before being pulled for Jonathan Quick. In relief duty, Quick stopped 22 shots out of the 25 he faced, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide.
Kings head coach Todd McClellan said that "When I look at the start we had, I thought we played the way we wanted to play. We played fast. We were aggressive, forced them into situations where they had to turn the puck over. Things were going pretty well for us. Even after the first goal, I thought we responded well. By the time it got to three, unfortunately, it wasn't the same way anymore."
Up next, the Penguins hit the road for a Saturday matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Jarry likely to get the start. Quick is the likely starter for the Kings when they take on the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
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