The Pittsburgh Penguins knew they were going to be without one of their best players heading into Monday’s tilt against the Los Angeles Kings.
They still got the job done – and in quite convincing fashion.
The Penguins resoundingly beat the Kings, 5-1, to sweep their season series for the first time in a decade and beat a team that was previously 14-2-1 on home ice. They did it without the services of their best goal-scorer, Rickard Rakell, who flew back to Pittsburgh prior to the game for family reasons.
Pittsburgh got contributions from up and down their lineup, as Kevin Hayes, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Cody Glass, and Anthony Beauvillier lit the lamp. They played a full 60 minutes and largely controlled play, surrendering L.A.’s only goal to Adrian Kempe on a five-on-three power play.
“I thought everyone played well,” Crosby said. “It was a great effort on both sides of the puck. We gave up the five-on-three goal, kill the next one, then get a big one from Glasser, too. So, I thought we managed the game really well.”
With Rakell out, Beauvillier played on the top line alongside Crosby and Bryan Rust, and his contributions to the win were very noticeable. A few minutes after Hayes opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first period, Beauvillier forced a turnover and was working hard down low on the forecheck.
He managed to get the puck from along the boards to Matt Grzelcyk at the point, who one-timed the puck towards the net. Crosby deflected it on the way in.
Malkin scored midway through the second to make it 3-0, and after Kempe’s five-on-three goal and the subsequent kill late in the period, Glass responded with just a minute left in the second to score a huge goal and retake the three-goal lead.
And then, in the third, Beauvillier’s hard work was on display yet again. He was engaged in a battle for positioning in the blue paint with Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke, and Kris Letang one-timed a pass from Crosby, who was working below the goal line.
Beauvillier squirmed free of Clarke and regained control of his stick, and he swatted in a loose puck that was sitting behind Kings goaltender David Rittich for his 11th goal of the season to seal the deal and put the Penguins ahead, 5-1.
“I thought he played really well,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Beauvillier. “He’s noticeable and making an impact with his speed, his tenacity, he can shoot the puck… He’s been hard on the boards, hard on the walls, he’s competing in the puck…