National Hockey League
Pittsburgh 5, Los Angeles 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 14, 2019
Where: PPG PAINTS Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Chris Schlenker
Linesmen: Matt MacPherson, Julien Fournier
Attendance: 18581

Bryan Rust, who earlier had two goals and an assist, scored the only goal in the shootout Saturday as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the visiting Los Angeles Kings 5-4.

Rust, the seventh shooter, beat Jonathan Quick on a backhander in the shootout. Jack Johnson and Teddy Blueger also scored, and Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang each had three assists for Pittsburgh, which has won five of six and picked up its league-leading 14th home win.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made 38 saves and stopped all four Kings he faced in the shootout.

Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist, and Austin Wagner, Tyler Toffoli and Michael Amadio also scored for Los Angeles, which had won two straight. Quick made 23 saves.

For the second straight game, the Penguins were without center Evgeni Malkin, who was ill.

Los Angeles opened the scoring at 13:08 of the first. Wagner, off the rush, one-timed a pass from Adrian Kempe to make it 1-0.

The Penguins appeared to tie it 19 seconds later on a singular effort by Brandon Tanev. However, the Kings successfully challenged that Blueger interfered with Quick, negating the goal.

Toffoli made it 2-0 when he flipped a backhander past Jarry at 18:00 of the first.

Rust cut it to 2-1 at 3:31 of the second. On a three-on-two, Guentzel connected with Rust near the left hash mark, and Rust beat Quick glove side.

At 17:36, Pittsburgh got its first five-on-three power-play goal as Rust struck again, on a one-timer, to tie it at 2-2.

Blueger gave Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead at 9:26 of the third on a short-range rebound.

At 11:29, Jarry squeezed his pads to stop Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar's backhander on a penalty shot.

Johnson chipped a rebound past Quick 29 seconds later during a four-on-four play to push the Penguins' lead to 4-2.

Clifford scored on a long rebound at to close it to 4-3 at 15:00, and Amadio scored from a scramble in front of the net to tie it at 16:23.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Los Angeles   Pittsburgh
Tyler Toffoli 2 Points Bryan Rust 3
Tyler Toffoli 1 Goals Bryan Rust 2
Sean Walker 2 Assists Jake Guentzel 3
N/A Power Play Goals Bryan Rust 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jonathan Quick .852 Save Percentage Tristan Jarry .905
Jonathan Quick 23 Saves Tristan Jarry 38
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Los Angeles 42 4 0-3 3-4 15 28
Pittsburgh 27 5 1-4 3-3 13 29
Upcoming Games
  • Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Penguins have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .533 after a loss.
  • Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Kings have a W/L % of .286 after a win and .450 after a loss.