After Tristan Jarry bails out the Penguins early, goals follow in rout of the Kings

A cursory glance at the scoresheet from the Penguins’ 6-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena would appear lopsided.

And sure enough, it was.

Especially in the first period.

That’s when the Kings were by far the better team as they outshot the Penguins, 16-9.

The counterbalance to that puck possession was present in the crease for the Penguins in the form of goaltender Tristan Jarry who was busy early and often throughout the contest as he made 39 saves on 40 shots to claim a victory and remain perfect (3-0-0) in the early stages of the season.

“(Jarry) was unbelievable,” Penguins forward Jason Zucker said. “He made save after save throughout the entire game. He was unreal. That was big.”

Perhaps what looms even larger than this result is the well-being of Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, who left the contest at 6:51 of the third period.

Guentzel was struck in the head by an errant slap shot from teammate Kris Letang. After taking a few moments to recover to his skates, Guentzel was escorted down the ramp towards the team’s dressing room by athletic trainer Chris Stewart.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan did not provide a substantive update on Guentzel’s status following the game.

That was largely the only blemish on a perfectly imperfect effort for the Penguins, who scored a touchdown’s worth of goals for the third time in four games and improved to 3-0-1 on the season.

Half of those goals came from newcomers who scored for the first time in a Penguins jersey. Defensemen Jan Rutta, Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling — each offseason additions — all went home with pucks adorned by white athletic tape with written notes commemorating their first goals as members of the Penguins.

“To get the first one was a relief,” said Petry, who rebounded after a three-penalty game during a 3-2 road overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. “I’ve had some looks. I’ve had some good shots. It was good to get that one under my belt.”

The Penguins looked like they were underwhelming during the first period as the Kings largely dominated control of the puck. Yet, the home team escaped that opening frame with a 3-0 advantage with regard to the most important numbers on the scoreboard thanks to their goaltender.

“He was amazing,” Rutta said of Jarry. “We just have to kind of follow him and be ready off the hop like he was tonight.”

Rutta, the Penguins’ most prominent free agent addition this past offseason, opened the scoring with his first goal of the season 4:04 into regulation.

After Penguins forward Bryan Rust got the puck in deep along the Kings’ end boards, linemate Evgeni Malkin wound up with possession in the right corner and then backhanded a pass off the half wall to Rutta at the right point. Backpedaling a bit towards the blue line, Rutta flicked a wrister toward the cage. Above the crease, Zucker provided a stout screen while battling with Kings defenseman Sean Walker. That allowed the puck to find an avenue through the five hole of unsuspecting backup goaltender Cal Petersen. Malkin and Zucker had assists.

“We didn’t have a good start so I was just thinking, I was just trying to create something,” Rutta said. “We have a pretty good forecheck, so just like any shot, especially a team that plays man-on-man, creates something. I was just putting it on the net.”

A more customary source of offense provided the Penguins with a 2-0 lead when Guentzel claimed his third goal at 14:35 of the first period.

Working off a cycle out of the left corner of the Kings’ zone, Penguins forward Sidney Crosby backhanded an errant pass attempt to the left circle, where Kings forward Adrian Kempe inadvertently tapped the puck to the right of the crease. Letang pinched in to chase down the puck and slid it into the blue paint. As Petersen overplayed Letang, Guentzel battled for position with Kings defenseman Drew Doughty as well as forward Anze Kopitar and shuffled the puck into the vacant cage with the heel of his stick. Letang and Crosby claimed assists.

Another member of the Penguins’ top line found the net when Rickard Rakell scored his second goal at 18:19 of the opening frame.

Corralling a loose puck behind the Kings’ net, Guentzel fed a pass to the right point for defenseman Marcus Pettersson, who offloaded the puck to the left point for Petry to uncork a one-timer. Petersen made the initial save but allowed a rebound to trickle loose and clunk off the right post. Rakell darted between Petersen and the cage to get a stick on the puck and made an acrobatic maneuver in the air to tap it into the net with a backhand shot. Petry and Pettersson netted assists.

“That was sweet,” Poehling said. ”Tricky Ricky. He had a good one there.”

Petersen had nothing close to a good night as he was pulled after the first period having stopped 6 of 9 shots. He was replaced by All-Star Jonathan Quick.

That maneuver did little to deter the Penguins from making it a 4-0 contest 4:13 into the second with a power-play goal by Petry, his first of the season. Intercepting a clearing attempt on the Kings’ left half wall, Penguins forward Danton Heinen slid a pass to the right point for Petry, who chucked a wrister through a phalanx of bodies and past Quick’s blocker on the far side. The lone assist went to Heinen.

“Jeff’s goal was a great example of just the awareness of delivering a puck down there knowing that we have people there and getting hit by the first set of shin pads,” Sullivan said. “Being able to deliver that puck down there is without a doubt such an important skill in today’s game, and I think Jeff is really good at it.”

Rust appeared to find his third goal of the season at 7:30 of the second period, but a coach’s challenge by the Kings wiped out the score on the basis of goaltender interference.

Ex-Kings forward Jeff Carter scored his first goal against his former team since being traded from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh in April of 2020 at 3:01 of the third period.

Pulling the puck off the right half wall of his own zone, Petry dodged a poke check from Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev and fed an outlet pass to forward Kasperi Kapanen. From just behind the center red line, Kapanen one-touched it to the Kings’ blue line for Carter. Taking the pass on his backhand, Carter surged behind Kings rookie defenseman Brandt Clarke and attacked the net. Upon arrival, Carter tucked a slick forehand shot through Quick’s five hole for his second goal of the season. Kapanen and Petry tallied assists.

Poehling capped the Penguins’ scoring with a short-handed goal 1:37 later. Corralling a puck on his own right half wall, Kings forward Phillip Danault forced an ill-conceived centering pass to his own slot. Poehling gladly accepted the charity, spun towards the net and chopped a slapper past Quick’s blocker for the Penguins’ first short-handed score of the season. There were no assists.

Jarry’s shutout bid was spoiled late in regulation by Kings forward Carl Grundstrom, who scored his first goal of the season on a power-play opportunity at 17:32 of the third. Taking a pass on the right wall, Clarke slinked his way into the lower part of the right circle and forced a centering pass to the crease that Rutta deflected away with his stick. The rebound skidded to the left circle where Grundstrom made a quick adjustment and lifted a far-side wrister past Jarry’s glove. Clarke and Doughty had assists.

Given the disparity in goal totals, play became fairly bellicose late in regulation, particularly after Kings forward Brendan Lemieux socked Guentzel with a high hit at 4:20 of the third period during a delayed penalty.

The Penguins took exception to Lemieux’s actions and responded on and off the ice.

At 11:37 of the third period, Zucker touched off a fracas when he slashed and then struck Lemieux with a high stick during an offensive rush into the Penguins’ zone.

Following the game, Zucker was blunt in what he thought of Lemieux’s antics.

“It was completely unnecessary,” Zucker said. “It’s a 5-0 game. He doesn’t touch the puck after a penalty. I think that’s a ridiculous play.”

There was little reason to be miffed about the play of Jarry, who was arguably more responsible for this triumph than his six teammates who scored.

“We got outplayed in the first half of that first period,” Sullivan said. “Tristan made some big saves. We were able to get a lead, but I think Tristan was a big part of it.”

Notes

• Penguins forward Teddy Blueger remained sidelined due to an undisclosed injury that has hobbled him since Sept. 28.

• Rutta became the 550th player to score a regular season goal for the Penguins.

• Petry became the 551st player.

• And Poehling became the 552nd player.

• Carter snapped a nearly 11-year goalless “slump” against the Kings. As a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Carter scored his team’s only goal in a 2-1 home loss at Nationwide Arena on Dec. 15, 2011.

Just over two months later (Feb. 23, 2012), Carter was traded to the Kings and spent the next nine-plus years with that franchise, helping it win its first two Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014.

• Thursday’s contest was the third consecutive game the Penguins had faced a backup goaltender. On Saturday, they defeated Brian Elliott and the Tampa Bay Lightning at home, 6-2, then on Monday, they lost to Sam Montembeault and the Canadiens.

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