Penguins Finally Reach Breaking(-Even) Point; Beat Kings in OT

The Pittsburgh Penguins learned something Tuesday night that a lot of NHL clubs have discovered in recent weeks.

Scoring one goal against Los Angeles is a feat. Getting two of them can seem like a near-impossibility.

And beating the Kings requires three, which the Penguins managed when Rickard Rakell deflected in an Erik Karlsson shot for the game-winner at 1:44 of overtime to give them a 3-2 victory.

The win hoisted the Penguins to .500 (14-14-5) for the first time since they were 3-3. They are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.

“Right now, the guys are believing,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve kind of dragged ourselves back into the (playoff) mix.”

The loss was just the second in the past nine games for Los Angeles. In their seven victories during that stretch, the Kings allowed one goal five times and two in the others. They’ve given up three in both of their defeats in that span.

“L.A. is a hard team to play against,” Sullivan said, also noting that his team is “playing with a lot more structure” than it had earlier in the season.

Penguins center Sidney Crosby failed to score a goal for the 10th game in a row, a slump that began immediately after he got No. 600 in his career Nov. 23 against Utah.

“It’s a matter of time (before he scores again),” Sullivan said. “It’s going to go in the net for him. … He still has an impact on the game, even when he doesn’t score.”

The Kings took a 2-1 lead into the third period for the sixth time on the road in 2024-25. They won on each of the previous five occasions.

They seemed likely to make it six until 14:25, when Matt Grzelcyk took a cross-ice feed from Crosby and beat Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper from inside the left circle to make it 2-2.

Rakell got the second assist on that goal, which was Grzelcyk’s first as a Penguin and forced the overtime.

The Penguins played without defenseman Marcus Pettersson, who is listed as “week to week” because of an unspecified lower-body injury.

His place alongside Karlsson on the No. 2 defense pairing was taken by Grzelcyk.

That tandem had not taken its first shift together when Los Angeles, which entered the game with a 12-3-3 record when taking a 1-0 lead, opened the scoring.

Adrian Kempe was left alone in front of Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and rapped in a feed from Anze Kopitar 33 seconds into the first period. It was Kempe’s eighth goal in his past four games against the Penguins.

The Penguins killed an interference minor assessed to Rakell at 2:45 — Rakell’s first penalty of the season — but failed to capitalize on their own chance with the extra man after Los Angeles forward Warren Foegele was sent off for holding Grzelcyk at 5:59.

The Penguins’ power play got another opportunity when Kings winger Alex Laferriere hooked Karlsson at 1:43 of the second period, but again failed to convert.

Nonetheless, Evgeni Malkin pulled the Penguins even at 6:22 with his seventh of the season.

Michael Bunting carried the puck down the right side on a two-on-one with Malkin before throwing a backhander between Kuemper’s legs. The puck caromed off the left goalpost and was bouncing around the crease before Malkin knocked it into the net.

Bryan Rust received the second assist. The goal initially was credited to Bunting, with Ryan Graves receiving the second assist, which would have been his first point of the season.

Los Angeles went back in front at 11:38, as Alex Turcotte chased down a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced into the Penguins’ end before beating Nedeljkovic on the glove side from inside the right circle to make it 2-1.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to practice Wednesday at noon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.