Penguins rally to beat Kings in OT
Dec 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Phillip Danault (24) handles the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Matt Nieto (83) during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Rickard Rakell scored on a wrist shot from the right point at 1:44 of overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-2 win against the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Rakell also had an assist, Evgeni Malkin and Matt Grzelcyk added goals and Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves for the Penguins, who trailed by a goal with six minutes left.
Adrian Kempe and Alex Turcotte scored, Vladislav Gavrikov contributed two assists and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the Kings, who have dropped two of three following a six-game winning streak.
Kempe scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season 33 seconds into the game to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
Anze Kopitar brought the puck behind the Pittsburgh net before passing to Kempe in front of the crease and he scored on a one-timer.
Kempe has eight goals in the past four games against Pittsburgh. He combined for three goals in two games against the Penguins last season and scored a career-high four goals in a 6-0 win against Pittsburgh on Feb. 11, 2023.
The Penguins tied it 1-1 at 6:22 of the second period after Michael Bunting and Malkin sprung loose on a 2-on-1 break.
Bunting, who was playing in his 300th NHL game, slid a late pass to Malkin and the puck went under Kuemper's pads and off the far post. Malkin appeared to slightly deflect the puck before it went off Kuemper's skate and was redirected across the goal line.
Los Angeles moved back ahead 2-1 at 11:38 of the second period.
Gavrikov cleared the puck from his own slot and it went off the boards near the red line. Turcotte beat the Penguins to the puck and raced down the right side, scoring with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the circle.
After getting denied by Kuemper several times in the third period, Grzelcyk got one past him on a wide-open wrist shot from the left circle to tie it 2-2 at 14:25 of the third period.
--Field Level Media
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