LOS ANGELES — Rickard Rakell whipped a wrist shot off the crossbar behind LA Kings goalie Anton Forsberg. Pittsburgh Penguins winger Filip Hallander poked the rebound between Forsberg’s pad and the post for a shorthanded goal and his first NHL goal.
Hallander’s tally at 6:50 of the third period erased a subpar Penguins effort and stood as the game winner as the Penguins (3-2-0) beat LA (1-3-1) 4-2 at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.
“It feels good. I was waiting for it,” said Hallander. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was very important, so it was fun … (Rickard Rakell) got a good shot away. I had an open net on the first rebound, missed that, and then I just jammed the puck all I could.”
It worked. The Penguins won.
Sidney Crosby overcame a couple of minor penalties and scored the empty-netter to seal the win.
The Penguins’ first 20 minutes were slightly more problematic than shopping in Beverly Hills with a maxed-out credit card. LA scored a pair of goals, and Trevor Moore slipped behind rookie Harrison Brunicke for an angled breakaway in which he clanged the post behind Penguins goalie Arturs Silovs.
“I think we were we were putting ourselves in a tough position there in the first period. Especially at the lines, just opportunities to advance pucks, opportunities to play behind them (We didn’t take),” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “Yeah, I mean if you look at a lot of what they were getting there–that was a credit to them, they were creating it–but I thought we were putting ourselves in some tough spots.”
The first LA goal was gift-wrapped by the Penguins. First, Connor Dewar’s turnover at center sprang the LA attack. Then a couple of juicy Silovs rebounds and a flat-footed reach by Kris Letang for the second rebound spotted William Foegele (1) a whack past Silovs at 4:24 of the first period.
A little less than five minutes later, the Penguins were still feeling quite generous as Anthony Mantha tried a lazy stick handle around Joel Armia in the offensive zone. Armia quickly took the puck and launched a three-on-two break that Kevin Fiala (3) finished at 9:04 of the first.
LA had the much better of the statistics in the second period, but it was their mistakes that lit the lamp and ultimately swung the game for the Penguins.
Quinton Byfield’s hooking penalty became Evgeni Malkin’s power-play goal. LA’s penalty kill cautiously watched Malkin skate from the center point, around the perimeter to the left circle without so much as an attempted contact before Malkin (1) beat Anton Forsberg at 6:37 of the second.
Less than one minute later, the Penguins’ fourth liners’ forecheck created opportunity near the LA net. Penguins grinder Noel Acciari contested defenseman Brandt Clarke’s play of a bouncing puck near the net, and Connor Dewar followed by quickly fanning on the tight shot.
Acciari was a healthy scratch on Tuesday in the Penguins’ loss to the Anaheim Ducks and returned with an impact.
“I thought (Acciari) was awesome,” Muse said. “I thought he played a really, really strong game defensively, and offensively, being up in the play on the forecheck.”
However, Dewar’s (1) shot fooled Forsberg, slipping through the goalie’s five-hole to tie the game at 7:18.
The gifts evened the game, and the Penguins evened the game not only on the scoreboard but in terms of opportunity and pressure.
Hallander’s first NHL goal came in his seventh career NHL game. He was the Penguins’ second-round pick of the 2018 draft. He spent the last two seasons in the Swedish league.
Silovs was not quiet in the net, but stopped 30 of 32. Forsberg 22 of 25 before being pulled for the extra attacker.
The Penguins’ win ended their two-game losing streak.
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