Kings return from long trip to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins – Press Enterprise

With what Coach Jim Hiller called an “unsuccessful” five-game trek in their rearview mirror, the Kings pulled up for a pair of home games, beginning with Monday’s battle against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Kings slipped up, 3-2 in overtime, to those same Penguins in Pittsburgh back on Dec. 17, when Sidney Crosby’s line dominated the third period and his running mate Rickard Rakell scored three-on-three in OT to cap a comeback for the Pens.

On Saturday in Seattle, where the Kings fell to 2-3-0 on their away swing, they had the opposite dynamic. What center Phillip Danault called a “sleepy” first period stepped aside for a frantic foray late. They lost to the Kraken, 4-2, despite scoring on the power play in consecutive road games for the first time all season, getting 10 shots on goal from Kevin Fiala and putting four more pucks to the net in the third period than they did in the first two frames combined.

“If we did that for 60 minutes, there’s no doubt in any of our minds that we would have come out on top,” said defenseman Brandt Clarke to reporters in Seattle, adding that he was surprised when he was asked to play forward late in the contest.

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The Kings gave up goals early in each of the first two periods while wedging a woefully undisciplined play that led to a goal between them on Saturday before allowing Jaden Schwartz to complete his hat trick with an empty-net goal. While Hiller said he would cut his group some slack for its miscues –– he estimated they hadn’t been as error-riddled defensively in a loss for about six weeks –– Clarke linked Saturday’s loss to earlier difficulties during the journey.

“You could say we out-played the record (on the road trip), but we also shot ourselves in the foot too many times. It goes back to uncharacteristic details,” Clarke told reporters. “We built a reputation of not doing stuff like that, but on this road trip, we’ve done some stuff that we’re definitely going to look back at and shake our heads. That’s hockey sometimes; that’s the midseason grind sometimes.”

That grind will continue Monday as a decorated group that includes Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, and Kris Letang comes to town. Crosby leads Pittsburgh in scoring with his linemates, Rakell and Bryan Rust, placing right behind him.

A volatile season has left the Penguins right at a .500 points percentage entering the match. Perhaps their rockiest facet this season has been goaltending. Former No. 1 netminder Tristan Jarry, who worked extensively with Kings goalie coach Mike Buckley when both were in Pittsburgh, ended up on waivers in a situation that mirrored somewhat that of the Kings and Cal Petersen two seasons ago.

Like Petersen, Jarry reported to the minors with multiple years remaining on his contract at an NHL starter’s salary, making Pittsburgh’s obligations to him rather onerous.

“It’s not fun; it sucks,” Karlsson told The Athletic. “It’s not something you want to happen, especially on a veteran team like this one.”