Penguins defeat Kings for 10th straight win at home

PITTSBURGH -- Matt Murray made 34 saves, and Kris Letang scored the game-winning goal to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Murray, who is 7-0-1 in his past eight games, played in his 100th NHL game (62-24-7). His 62 wins in that span are the most among goalies to debut since 2005-06, ahead of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Antti Niemi (61).
"They're a good team with getting traffic to the net and trying to make the goalie's job difficult," Murray said. "There was some contact there. There were some screens and some tips. So, it's a tough game for a goalie. … Our D were doing a great job of getting stick and bodies, and letting me see the puck. When they do that, it makes my job a whole lot easier."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Penguins highlights]
The Penguins (33-22-4), who have won 10 straight at home, are three points back of the Washington Capitals for first in the Metropolitan Division. Their winning streak is the team's longest since they won a franchise-record 13 straight at home from Nov. 15, 2013-Jan. 15, 2014.
"The game had a playoff feel in the sense that there wasn't a lot of ice out there," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I thought the third period was one of the best periods we've played in a while in a one-goal game. We stayed with it."

Jonathan Quick made 36 saves for the Kings (30-22-5), who remain three points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I thought the team played hard tonight," Kings coach John Stevens said. "Spent a little too much time in our zone. I thought our wall play let us down. … Not enough time in their zone."
Letang's slap shot went through Quick's five-hole on the power play to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 5:24 of the third period. Letang has goals in back-to-back games.
Evgeni Malkin scored into an empty net to make it 3-1 with 24.6 seconds left. He has 17 points (11 goals, six assists) in his past nine games and 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in his past 17.

Ryan Reaves gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 6:06 of the second period. After intercepting a pass from Alec Martinez, Reaves took a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that went over Quick's blocker.
Dion Phaneuf tied it 1-1 in his Kings debut with a power-play goal at 7:22. Ten seconds after Ian Cole went to the penalty box for high sticking, Phaneuf slid a shot under Murray's pad for his fourth goal of the season.
Los Angeles acquired Phaneuf and forward Nate Thompson from Ottawa for forwards Marian Gaborik and Nicholas Shore on Tuesday.
Immigration issues nearly kept Phaneuf from making his debut. He said he was told his paperwork had gone through Thursday afternoon.

"I was preparing to play the game," Phaneuf said. "The odds were that the immigration stuff wasn't going to go through, was what I was told. But then, I can't thank the people at the office [enough] that worked so hard to put everything through to be able to allow me to play so quickly.
"I'm very fortunate that they were able to get the paperwork done. When I found out, I was pretty excited about the opportunity to play my first game for this organization."

Goal of the game

Letang's goal at 5:24 of the third period.

Save of the game

Murray's save on Michael Amadio at 17:29 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Phaneuf's goal at 7:22 of the second period.

They said it

"I think we're doing some different things well. Special teams have been pretty good, that helps a lot. We're scoring in different ways, we're scoring gritty goals and some nice ones but we're defending well, so that's the main thing. When we defend well we have the puck more and create more offense, so we have to continue to make sure we do that." -- Penguins center Sidney Crosby
"I thought we played a solid game, obviously. I thought our special teams, minus the goal against, I thought they were pretty good. You can't expect, being on the road and scoring one goal, that that's going to be enough. We just have to find ways to create more and finish more." -- Kings forward Anze Kopitar

Need to know

Thompson played fourth-line center between Andy Andreoff and Amadio in his Kings debut. He didn't have a shot and won 30 percent of his face-offs in 12:41. … Crosby had an assist on Malkin's empty-net goal. He has six points (two goals, four assists) in his past three games and 30 points (five goals, 25 assists) in his past 17.

What's next

Kings: At the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, SNE, SNO, SNW, MSG-B, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, ATTSN-PT, NHL.TV)