Kings defeat Penguins in overtime

LOS ANGELES -- Nic Dowd scored at 2:37 of overtime to help the Los Angeles Kings end their three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Staples Center on Thursday.
Dowd was left alone in front of the crease and waited for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to commit before scoring his second goal of the season on the backhand and stop Pittsburgh's winning streak at four.
Darryl Sutter won his 600th NHL game, the 14th coach to reach the plateau. Sutter is 600-438-101 in 17 seasons and 191-118 in six seasons with the Kings.

WATCH: All Penguins vs. Kings highlights
It was the fifth overtime victory for the Kings (5-6-0), who have yet to win in regulation.
"We'll take them," Dowd said. "I think we'd rather win in regulation to take the stress off of us and not make (goalie Peter Budaj) have to play overtime every night, but we'll take the win."
Sidney Crosby scored two goals for the Penguins (7-3-1), his second multigoal game this season and second in three games.

"We marvel at him sometimes with how good he is and what he does each and every night," coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's playing inspiring hockey right now."
Crosby tipped in a shot from Kris Letang at 9:28 of the third period to tie the game at 2-2.
"You just try to go (to the net) and hopefully nobody gets a stick or is able to box you out," Crosby said. "But I think (Letang) made a great play to have his head up and look for my stick."
Crosby scored his first goal at 7:28 of the first period. Patric Hornqvist won a battle in the corner and got the puck to Crosby, who sent it to Letang for a shot from the point. Crosby got the rebound and beat Budaj with a wrist shot from a sharp angle.

Forward Trevor Lewis ended the Kings' scoreless drought at 205:25 with his first goal of the season at 5:25 of the second. The Penguins were caught on a change and gave up a 3-on-1. Fleury bobbled the puck and Lewis swept it underneath his pads, tying the game at 1-1.
Defenseman Matt Greene gave the Kings the lead 2:14 into the third with a point shot through traffic. It was Greene's first goal and first point since March 3, 2015.
"We just kept talking about composure and trying to make the right play," Sutter said. "I think everyone was open there and Lewis caught it at the end."
Budaj made 21 saves while Fleury made 24.

Goal of the game

Kings forward Tanner Pearson went behind the net and barely managed to get the puck off his stick and out to a wide open Dowd in the middle of ice. Dowd faked his shot and scored on the backhand, getting the puck around the skate of Fleury. "Nothing special. I just made a move and luckily that side was open," Dowd said. "The other 50 percent of the time, maybe he's there. I pulled it to my backhand after waiting a little bit and the door was open."

Save of the game

Ten seconds before Dowd scored the winning goal, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin took a shot that Budaj couldn't hold. As the puck slipped behind him, Budaj fell backwards and kept it from rolling over the goal line.

Unsung moment of the game

Kings forward Jeff Carter beat Penguins forward Matt Cullen clean off the draw and the puck went right to Greene, who fired through traffic for a 2-1 lead.

Highlight of the game

Crosby set up his own goal in the first period with a pass that few others could make. After Hornqvist got the puck out from the corner, Crosby spun backwards and banked it off the side boards and over to Letang at the point. "He knows what he wants to do with it before he gets it, and he knows where (Letang) is back there," Sullivan said.

They said it

"We needed to end that skid. I thought that was a good game for us against a really good team coming here. We needed the points to keep pace in this division. It's a big win, obviously you want to get this in regulation, but we will take the points how we get them." --Kings defenseman Matt Greene
"They didn't generate a whole lot either, to be honest. It was one of those games where we would have loved to generate more but games are tight-checking, there's not a lot of space." -- Penguins forward Sidney Crosby

Need to know

Crosby has points in all five games since his return from a concussion and his five goals is second on the team behind Malkin's six.

What's next

Penguins: At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, ROOT, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, FS-W, NHL.TV)