5 things we learned: Jeff Petry, Jason Zucker shine in Penguins' 6-1 win over Kings

Any member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, player or coach, would agree that they win or lose as a team. But undoubtedly, individual deeds have the potential to propel or sink the club.

In a 3-2 overtime loss Monday at Montreal, defenseman Jeff Petry was guilty of the latter, taking three penalties, including one for cross-checking 1 minute, 46 seconds into overtime.

While Petry was in the penalty box, the Canadiens, who trailed by two heading into the third period, completed their comeback and won the game on a goal by Kirby Dach.

But in the Penguins’ 6-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, Petry redeemed himself, scoring a goal and registering a pair of assists. He also led the team with five hits.

A bit over four minutes into the second period, with the Penguins already up, 3-0, Petry scored on the power-play, netting a long-range wrister through traffic.

Before his goal, with under two minutes remaining in the first period, Petry notched the secondary assist on Rickard Rakell’s goal.

A few minutes into the third, Petry took control of the puck along the boards and fed it up the ice to Kasperi Kapanen, who redirected Petry’s pass with impressive precision to Jeff Carter, who had snuck past LA defenders Brandt Clarke and Sean Walker.

Moments later, Carter beat Kings netminder (and usual starter) Jonathan Quick, who had replaced Cal Petersen after one period of play, through the five-hole, handing the Penguins a 5-0 lead.

Zucker’s presence felt

Jason Zucker has had a tough time avoiding the injury bug since joining the Penguins. Now in his fourth season in Pittsburgh, Zucker has missed significant time the past two years.

Thursday’s win over LA featured a display of what he brings to the table when at full health.

At 4:04 of the first period, as the Penguins’ second line chased the puck into the offensive zone, Jan Rutta took possession of a pass off the boards from Evgeni Malkin, firing a wrister from distance past Petersen.

Zucker, who had battled for the puck behind the net as the play developed, slid into position in front of the crease, battling with Walker and laying down a solid screen in front of Petersen that prevented him from tracing Rutta’s shot.

The goal opened up the scoring and was Rutta’s first as a Penguin.

“He’s just he’s a menace out there,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s relentless on the puck pursuit game, he’s bringing physicality, he’s going to the net, and I think he’s creating opportunity for his linemates, or the power play that he’s on, because of it.

“That’s the game we envisioned that he would bring to our team, and I think we’ve finally got a healthy (Zucker) that’s excited to play. He’s bringing his best right now.”

Later, in the second period, with the Penguins on the power play, Zucker once again put his 5-foot-11, 192-pound frame to good use in front of the net, screening Quick, compromising his line of vision and helping a deep wrist shot by Petry find its mark.

“For me, I just happened to be there on those two (shots), but everyone’s been doing a great job just shooting pucks and they’re going in,” Zucker said.

Physicality on display

Through one period Thursday, the Penguins collected 22 hits, ending the game with 35.

At face value, that would suggest that they threw their weight around and played with some grit.

But despite getting a goal qucikly in the first period and leading 3-0 after 20 minutes of play, early in the game it was the Kings who set the tempo, controlling things in the offensive zone and racking up 16 shots to the Penguins’ nine.

For Sullivan, hits are great, but the manner in which they show up on the stat sheet can be misleading.

“I’m always reluctant to assess our overall team performance based on hits,” he said. “It does suggest that we’re bringing a certain level of physicality, but it also suggests that we don’t have the puck and that we’re having to defend.

“I think when our team’s at its best, the hit numbers are down because we have the puck a whole lot more.”

Sullivan’s career milestone

The victory over Los Angeles was Sullivan’s 300th at the helm in Pittsburgh. The 54-year-old entering his eighth year as head coach of the Penguins, is 300-156-55 in 511 games.

“It’s humbling. It means a lot,” he said. “I’m grateful to the players. They’re the guys that go out there and earn the wins for us. And these guys that I’ve been coaching in my time here have worked so hard to bring the success that we’ve had on the ice. (I’m) grateful to those guys.

“They’re the ones that make the sacrifices every day to make us the competitive team that we are, so it certainly is a credit to the players that have been here through the years that that go out and get the job done, and I’m grateful for that.”

Offensive firepower

For the third time in four games played this season, the Penguins scored six goals, having put up a touchdown sans extra point in the season opener Oct. 13 against Arizona and again two days later vs. Tampa Bay.

Against the Kings, the Penguins scored four goals at even strength, once on the power play, and for their last goal, which came off the stick of Ryan Poehling, in short-handed fashion.

After Sidney Crosby headed to the penalty box for tripping with 15:40 left in regulation, Poehling won a defensive faceoff and pursued the puck up the ice into the Kings’ zone.

As Los Angeles attempted to recalibrate and attempt another rush, Poehling intercepted a pass from Phillip Danault in the high slot.

With no one near him, Poehling took a quick second to wind up for a slap shot, burying the puck under Quick’s right arm.

For the Penguins, it’s four games down, 78 to go.

But so far this season, albeit early on, the team has not struggled to generate offense, with a power play that is finding some rhythm and offensive contributions from up and down the four lines.

“It’s not easy to score in this league and the fact that we’ve been able to create the offensive production that we’ve able to create so far in this early part of the season is encouraging,” Sullivan said.