Penalty kill pushes Penguins to comeback win against Kings
The Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to transform their penalty kill from a detriment to an asset.
Score a short-handed goal.
Penguins’ rookie forward Filip Hallander scored the winning goal during a penalty kill in a 4-2 comeback road win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thursday.
That success punctuated an effective night for the Penguins’ penalty kill, which finished the contest 2 for 2. The Penguins had allowed two opposing power-play goals in each of their previous two games, both losses.
“We were a bit more aggressive today,” Hallander said to reporters in Los Angeles via audio provided by the Penguins’ media relations department. “The last game (a 4-3 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday), we maybe sat back a little bit.”
Entering Thursday’s contest, the Penguins ranked 23rd in the 32-team NHL with a penalty kill success rate of 73.3%.
Kings forward Warren Foegele opened the scoring with his first goal of the season 4:24 into regulation.
After Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea was hounded into a turnover on his own end boards, his partner, Kris Letang, errantly chopped it to the right corner. Foegele accepted the charity and slid the puck to the right point for ex-Penguins defenseman Cody Ceci, who immediately chopped a forehand pass to the near circle for Kings forward Trevor Moore. Off a one-touch pass by Moore, Foegele leaned down and swiped a one-timer from just above the right dot, which Silovs booted out with his right leg. Foegele fought through a stick check by ex-Kings forward Blake Lizotte to claim the rebound and shoveled a forehand shot by Silovs’ left skate. Moore and Ceci had assists.
Warren Foegele - Los Angeles Kings (1) pic.twitter.com/WMGQ5EtEho
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 17, 2025
The hosts went up by a pair of scores via forward Kevin Fiala’s third goal at 9:04 of the first period.
Above Los Angeles’ right circle, Kings forward Joel Armia swiped the puck from Penguins forward Anthony Mantha and initiated an offensive attack. Gaining the Penguins’ zone on the left wing, Armia fed a cross-ice pass to linemate Quinton Byfield. From the right dot, Byfield slid a pass past Shea’s stick and to the far side of the crease for Fiala for an easy tap-in forehand shot behind Silovs’ left skate. Byfield and Armia were awarded assists.
Fiala's goal (via LAK):
So much confidence from Armia to apply the stick and weave the puck through a tight window to Byfield.
Fiala is sneaky, great look from QB to not be selfish and find the winger for the tap-in. That's textbook. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/eNv80UJrws
— Kasey Kazliner (@KaseyKazliner) October 17, 2025
The Penguins tied the game with a quick burst of two goals over a 41-second span during the second period.
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin scored his first goal during a power-play sequence at the 6:37 mark.
Off some puck movement on the perimeter of the offensive zone, Penguins forward Bryan Rust one-touched a pass from above the left circle to the high slot. Malkin took possession and motored to the left circle. Moore and Kings forward Phillip Danault opted to give Malkin space to operate and the Penguins center took advantage of that gift by snapping a wrister that clunked through goaltender Anton Forsberg’s five hole. Rust and defenseman Erik Karlsson collected assists.
Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh Penguins (1)
Power Play Goal pic.twitter.com/bq6j0CPccE— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 17, 2025
The Penguins’ fourth line got in on the act when Connor Dewar found his first goal at the 7:18 mark.
From his own left half wall, Shea fired a stretch pass toward the far blue line intended for Dewar. Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke broke up the sequence, but the puck bounced into Los Angeles’ zone between the hashmarks. Penguins forward Noel Acciari beat Kings defenseman Drew Doughty to the puck and got a stick on it, allowing Dewar to follow up and whip a wrister from the lower rim of the left circle through the five hole of Forsberg, who didn’t seem prepared for the shot. Assists were awarded to Acciari and Shea.
Connor Dewar - Pittsburgh Penguins (1) pic.twitter.com/OBZIwKDort
— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 17, 2025
Hallander recorded his first career goal (and point) during a short-handed sequence at 6:50 of the third period to supply his team with its first lead of the contest.
Pushing the puck into the offensive zone on the left wing, Penguins forward Rickard Rakell veered to the high slot and elevated a wrister that clacked off the crossbar. The rebound caromed to the right circle and Rakell, as well as Hallander, each took stabs at it before Hallander was able to drive the puck past Forsberg’s left leg. It was the Penguins’ first short-handed goal of the season. Rakell and defenseman Parker Wotherspoon had assists.
Filip Hallander - Pittsburgh Penguins (1)
Shorthanded Goal pic.twitter.com/m7aOpaVDzT— NHL Goal Videos (@NHLGoalVideos) October 17, 2025
“It’s always awesome to see somebody get their first,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “Especially a goal like that there and the way it impacted this game.”
The scoring was capped at 19:29 of the final frame when Penguins forward Sidney Crosby collected his second goal on an empty net off assists from Wotherspoon and Karlsson.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) October 17, 2025
Silovs made 30 saves on 32 shots to lift his record to 2-1-0.
Notes:
• Hallander became the 588th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.
• The last member of the Penguins to score his first career goal in a short-handed scenario was forward Oskar Sundqvist. He scored the opening goal in a 5-0 road win against the New York Islanders, April 2, 2016.
• Karlsson (111 points) surpassed defensemen Jim Johnson and Paul Martin as well as forward Wayne Bianchin (109 each) for 83rd place on the franchise’s career scoring list.
• Wotherspoon’s assists were his first points as a member of the Penguins.
• Penguins rookie forward Ben Kindel was a healthy scratch. Per a social media posting from the team, the lineup decision was part of a “development plan” for the 18-year-old. During a 4-3 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, the Penguins scratched rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke, 19, for identical reasons.
• Veteran defensemen Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba were also scratched.
• Penguins forward Justin Brazeau appeared in his 100th career game.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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