Crosby helps Penguins defeat slumping Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist to pass the 50-point mark for the 18th time in his NHL career, and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.

Crosby is the 11th player in League history to reach 50 points in at least 18 seasons and the second active player to do so, joining Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (18).

Evgeni Malkin also scored, and Kevin Hayes and Anthony Beauvillier each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (20-21-8), who have won two of three to begin a seven-game road trip.

“I thought we took it to them the entire night,” said Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 25 saves. “We played on top of them. ... We weren't giving them any offense, which goes a long way in being able to maintain momentum, because once you start turning the puck over and kind of giving them easy offense, it's easy for them to start getting confidence and building some momentum.”

David Rittich made 28 saves for the Kings (25-14-5), who are 1-4-0 in their past five games and were playing at home for the first time since wildfires devastated the greater Los Angeles area.

“We haven’t really had too many games like these, and it was probably really the only game as a whole that was like this,” Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar said.

The Penguins went ahead 1-0 during a power play at 10:09 of the first period. Hayes received a pass at the right point, protected the puck down the wall, and cut toward the post along the goal line, where Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson inadvertently poked the puck into his own net.

“We knew it was going to be an emotional night in the building for all the right reasons,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Our team is supportive of the endeavor with the Kings, and acknowledging and recognizing the heroism of the fire department and all these first responders that are putting themselves in harm's way to try to help people, that's bigger than any hockey game. We knew that it was going to be an emotional game, in particular in the first period right after the ceremony. So, we just wanted to try to manage those first 10 minutes. I thought our guys did a real good job.”

Crosby made it 2-0 at 14:09 of the first, redirecting Matt Grzelcyk’s slap shot from the left point past Rittich. Crosby has 51 points (13 goals, 38 assists) in 49 games this season.

Malkin extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:26 of the second period, scoring five-hole from the right circle off a backhand cross-slot pass from Philip Tomasino.

Adrian Kempe cut it to 3-1 at 16:02 with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Kopitar during a 5-on-3 power play.

Cody Glass responded to make it 4-1 at 19:00. He tapped in a centering pass from Hayes from the edge of the crease.

“It was definitely not our game tonight from top to bottom,” Kopitar said. “Didn’t get anything going, and even when we did with the power-play goal, they come right back and score the fourth one, which turned out to be, obviously, a big goal. It’s a lot different being down two going into the third versus three.”

Beauvillier made it 5-1 at 6:57 of the third. Rittich thought he had covered up Kris Letang’s one-timer, but Beauvillier found the loose puck on his left pad in the crease and jammed it into the net.

Kings coach Jim Hiller walked into his postgame press conference and described the performance as “disappointing” without being prompted.

“I can probably count maybe only five times I’ve been disappointed in our team,” Hiller said. “Tonight is one, maybe the most (disappointing).”

NOTES: Crosby has 741 career points on the road (280 goals, 461 assists in 662 games), tying Joe Sakic for 10th in League history. Crosby also tied Guy Lafleur (94 with the Montreal Canadiens) and Steve Yzerman (94 with the Detroit Red Wings) for the fifth-most game-winning goals with one franchise in NHL history. ... Los Angeles had its nine-game home winning streak end. ... Crosby and Malkin scored in the same game for the 125th time in the regular season, tying Jari Kurri and Mark Messier for ninth by a pair of teammates in NHL history. ... Kempe has scored in three straight games and has four points (three goals, one assist) in that span.