Penguins look to snap skid against surging Kings

The Pittsburgh Penguins play the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. Puck drop is at 9 p.m. Eastern. Both teams sit at 12 points in the standings, but Saturday's Penguins-Kings game is a matchup of two teams headed in opposite directions. Read more: Penguins look to snap skid against surging Kings

Pittsburgh (5-9-2) has lost four of its last five games. The skid now stands at four games, dating to an Oct. 24 overtime win over Nashville. The last two losses have come by a combined 9-4 margin. Pittsburgh fell 2-3 to Vegas on Nov. 3, then 2-6 to Boston on Nov. 5.

Coach Dan Muse pointed to the same issue after the Vegas loss: the Penguins keep letting games slip away late. He said the team needs to get the job done in key defensive moments and be more resilient. Goalie Arturs Silovs, who stopped 20 of 23 shots that night, still said the group is close to breaking through.

Related: Bruins capitalize on Penguins’ mistakes in 6-2 win, extending Pittsburgh’s skid to four

Injuries pile up on both sides

Forward Bryan Rust (lower body) is out until at least Dec. 5. Defenseman Ryan Graves (knee) is also targeting a return, around Nov. 28. Elmer Soderblom (upper body) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (lower body) are also sidelined for Pittsburgh.

Evgeni Malkin and Kaedan Korczak were day-to-day with lower-body injuries earlier in the week. Neither appears on Pittsburgh's injury report for Saturday, a sign both could be available.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles (5-7-2) has the healthier recent form of the two. In fact, the Kings have won three of their last five, including a 7-2 rout of San Jose on Nov. 4 at home.

Mats Zuccarello (upper body) is targeting a Nov. 10 return for Los Angeles. Kevin Fiala, Alex Turcotte and Jan Jenik all carry Nov. 7 timelines. So all three could be back in the lineup as soon as this weekend.

Related: Shorthanded Penguins host surging Bruins

Starters unclear, goalies in focus

Daily Faceoff projects Arturs Silovs to start for Pittsburgh and Darcy Kuemper for Los Angeles, though neither team had confirmed a starter as of Saturday morning. Kuemper has a 3.46 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage in nine appearances this season. However, backup Anton Forsberg has been sharper in relief, posting a .902 save percentage in six outings.

DraftKings lists Los Angeles as a -130 favorite on the moneyline, with Pittsburgh at +110, via ESPN. The Kings are -1.5 on the puck line at +190, and the Penguins are +1.5 at -230. The total sits at 6.5. This Penguins-Kings matchup matters less for the standings tie than for which team ends its losing stretch first.

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