Penguins rally, top Kings in OT on Rakell goal

PITTSBURGH -- Rickard Rakell scored 1:44 into overtime, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to win 3-2 against the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Rakell tipped a shot from Erik Karlsson just under the crossbar for his team-leading 14th goal this season.

“It felt awesome,” Rakell said. “After we got down early in the game, I thought we battled back in the game. ... Just grinding it out. That makes it feel better to get this win.”

Matt Grzelcyk scored a tying goal late in the third period, Evgeni Malkin also scored, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 29 saves for the Penguins (14-14-5), who are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games. Michael Bunting had two assists in his 300th NHL game.

Adrian Kempe and Alex Turcotte scored, and Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists for the Kings (18-9-4), who have lost two of three since winning their previous six. Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves.

“Not good enough, clearly,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “Third periods have been our best, I think, it's been a trend, anyway, for a while. It was not tonight. We relied on Darcy way too much.”

Grzelcyk tied it 2-2 at 14:25 of the third period on his first goal of the season, taking a pass from Sidney Crosby for a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

It came just after Bryan Rust, alone in the slot, could have tied it at 11:53 with a wrist shot off a pass from Crosby, but Kuemper tipped it into the netting with his glove.

“I was proud of the guys because I thought we just stuck with it,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We didn’t get discouraged. We give up a goal early in the game. We just kind of stayed with it. ... We’re just trying to play the right way. We’re trying to play a style of hockey that’s going to give us a chance to win, regardless of the night and regardless of the opponent.”

Kempe put Los Angeles ahead 1-0 on its second shot on goal 33 seconds into the first period, a wrist shot just outside the crease off a pass from Anze Kopitar from behind the net.

“It doesn’t matter if you give up the first one, have a tough shift here, take a penalty,” Nedeljkovic said. “You’ve just got to keep going, trust the guys next to you that they’re going to do their job, they’re going to pick you up when you’re down and right the ship. It’s been like that.”

It was Kempe's 16th goal this season and 11th in 14 games since Nov. 13.

“It’s frustrating when you don’t come away with two points,” Kempe said. “We’ll take the one point, I guess, and move on. ... It could’ve gone either way. But I think, overall, maybe not our best game.”

Malkin tied it 1-1 at 6:22 of the second period with his 7th goal of the season and second in 17 games. Bunting dragged the puck around a sliding Gavrikov on a 2-on-1 for a backhand shot that slid under Kuemper, hit the left post, and was tapped in by Malkin.

Turcotte put the Kings back in front 2-1 at 11:38 by driving to the circle for a wrist shot, scoring in a second straight game for his fourth this season.

“He’s a skilled guy,” Gavrikov said of Turcotte. “You can see that much in the game. But off the game, practice days, he’s been outstanding. Finally, he brought some into the games. It was a huge goal for us. I think he’s making (progress) step by step and he’s earned it.”

NOTES: Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson did not play with a lower-body injury sustained in a 3-2 overtime loss at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. He is week to week. ... Kings forward Kevin Fiala had six shots on goal in 21:12 of ice time in his 600th NHL game. ... The Penguins’ win was their 64th in overtime since the 3-on-3 format was introduced in 2015-16, tied with the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues for the most over that span. ... Kuemper had allowed one goal in each of his first three starts back from missing seven games with a lower-body injury. ... Crosby’s goal drought extended to 10 games since scoring his 600th in the NHL on Nov. 23.