LOS ANGELES -- Despite losing, 6-0, to the Kings here at Crypto.com Arena Saturday night, the Penguins were actually pretty strong coming out of the gates considering they'd played the night before and had just endured an agonizingly long jersey retirement and statue unveiling for Dustin Brown prior to puck drop, which didn't end up happening until 8:08 p.m. local time.
The Penguins had their legs, no doubt. At least during the early stages. They were skating hard and forechecking well. It allowed them to sustain a considerable amount of offensive-zone time in the first period, but they weren't able to turn that zone time into many high-octane chances.
They went into the first intermission trailing by two goals and probably didn't deserve it.
Just two minutes into the second period -- a vital time for the Penguins to take control of the game -- Los Angeles left winger Adrian Kempe beat Casey DeSmith with an absolutely wicked shot for his first goal of the game to make it 3-0.
It effectively destroyed the Penguins' chances of mounting a comeback. It also spelled the end of DeSmith's night after allowing three goals on 15 shots:
Mike Sullivan is a big believer that a shot is the best way to break down defensive coverage, and there might not be a better example than the clip above.
Sean Durzi's shot from distance left the Penguins out of whack, also leaving Kempe with plenty of time and space to utilize his hefty wrister when the puck was reversed to him back toward the top of the left circle.
"They got that third goal early in the second, and it was just tough to overcome that," Sullivan said.
Kempe, who later said he wasn't exactly feeling it early, also went on to score the final three goals of the night, making him the first player in Kings history to score four consecutive goals in a game.
"Coming into the game, I didn’t feel my best out there," Kempe said. "It was just one of those nights when things are going the right way."
