Penguins Crown Kings, 3-2, in OT

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t too enthused about the Penguins’ chances for victory ahead of last night’s clash with the piping hot Kings at PPG Paints Arena. Especially following the grim news that arguably our best defenseman, Marcus Pettersson, is out week-to-week.

My apprehension appeared well-founded when the visitors swarmed our boys from the opening draw, resulting in a goal by Penguin-killer Adrian Kempe a scant 33 seconds in. After doing a double-take to see who was in net (Alex Nedeljkovic and not Tristan Jarry), I thought it’s going to be a long night.

Then the Pens slowly but inexorably clawed their way back into the contest. Remarkably, we matched a speedy Kings team stride for stride, giving no quarter and receiving none.

Six minutes into the second frame, Evgeni Malkin knotted the score on an Ugly Betty goal at the net-front, with an assist from Michael Bunting. Geno’s seventh goal of the season and first since December 3.

The Kings reclaimed the lead five minutes later on a tally off the rush by speedy Alex Turcotte, but our boys hung tough.

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