Sidney Crosby passes Marcel Dionne as Penguins snap four-game skid with 5-2 win over Kings

The Pittsburgh Penguins (6-9-2, 2-6-1 away) ended their four-game losing streak on Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles Kings (5-8-2, 2-5-0 home) 5-2 at Crypto.com Arena. Sidney Crosby scored twice to pass Marcel Dionne for sole possession of sixth on the NHL’s all-time points list. Meanwhile, Tommy Novak scored twice in the first 5:10, and Sergei Murashov earned his first win of the season with 26 saves. Read more: Sidney Crosby passes Marcel Dionne as Penguins snap four-game skid with 5-2 win over Kings.

Novak strikes early twice

Pittsburgh jumped on Darcy Kuemper right away. Novak opened the scoring at 1:52 of the first period, finishing a rebound after Kuemper stopped a Declan Carlile wrist shot. Then, just 3:18 later, Novak scored again on another rebound to make it 2-0 at 5:10.

“Our first couple shifts, we had some good O-zone time,” Novak said. “Declan put a nice puck in there, and it bounced to me in a good spot and put it in.”

Corey Perry cut the lead to 2-1 at 9:55, batting an airborne puck in off the end boards. However, the Penguins answered late in the period. With 29 seconds left, Egor Chinakhov scored on the power play from the left circle to restore the two-goal lead.

Crosby passes Dionne

Alex Laferriere pulled Los Angeles within one on a second-period power play at 3:07, when his shot deflected off Kaedan Korczak’s skate and past Murashov. Later in the period, the Kings appeared to tie the game, but the goal was overturned after a successful offside challenge.

Related: Penguins look to snap skid against surging Kings

At 17:13 of the second, an Evgeni Malkin shot deflected in off Crosby to make it 4-2. The goal was the 1,772nd point of Crosby’s career, breaking his tie with Dionne. Fittingly, Dionne spent 12 seasons with the Kings.

“It’s probably a little bit cooler cause it was here,” Crosby said. “Haven’t gone in easy, so it’s nice to get that one.”

Crosby added an empty-net goal with 1:16 left. As a result, he’s now 25 points behind Ron Francis (1,798) for fifth.

Murashov earns first win

Murashov stopped 26 of 28 shots, while Kuemper made 14 saves on 18 shots. Pittsburgh had just 19 shots on goal but didn’t give up the odd-man rushes that hurt them against Boston.

“It’s not about the result,” Murashov said. “It’s not about outcome; it’s about process.”

Dan Muse credited the group’s work in front of the young goaltender.

“Guys just selling out, the blocks and shots there,” Muse said. “I thought we outworked some of those mistakes by committee.”

Malkin finished with three assists, and Kris Letang added two.

Up next

The Penguins continue their three-game California road trip on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.

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