* These are the kind of victories the Pens must pull out for the rest of the season. It wasn't pretty, but Pittsburgh pulled away with two points. The Pens had to grind out the win and dig deep. As Pittsburgh learned on Wednesday, there are no pushover teams in the NHL. It's going to be a battle and grind the rest of the way.
* You figured Tanner Pearson would play with a little extra fire against his former team. And that was exactly what happened. Pearson even embarrassed one of his former teammates - and a Norris Trophy winner - Drew Doughty.
Pearson stole a puck from Doughty and then powered through his attempted check to get in alone on goal. From there he pulled goaltender Jonathan Quick to the ice and pulled the puck around his poke check. Pearson then lifted the puck into the top corner for a revenge tally.
* Goaltender Matt Murray saw his first game action in four weeks against the Kings - since Nov. 17 at Ottawa. A lingering issue eventually turned into a lower-body injury that required Murray to miss 14 straight games.
Murray looked rusty early in the game, fighting off shots. But as the game went along, he got more confident with his play and demonstrative with his saves. Murray was fantastic in the overtime. He stopped Tyler Toffoli on a breakaway, and also was forced to make two more point-blank, high-quality stops.
If the Pens have any championship aspirations this season, Murray is going to be the key figure.
* Amazingly, the victory was only Murray's second home win of the season - and first since the home opener.
* The Pens used forwards Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on their PK units tonight. The reason? They want to be more of an offensive threat while on the kill. Zach Aston-Reese's shorthanded goal against Boston on Friday night was the team's first shorthanded tally of the season.
Although Crosby and Guentzel didn't score a shorthanded goal, the club did record its second shorthanded goal of the season, and second in two games. Matt Cullen - all 42 years of age - carried a puck around the back of the net before cutting through two Kings players and into the slot. Cullen ripped a shot into the top corner. The old man can still motor.
* With Letang out, Juuso Riikola was back in the lineup. He made his presence felt with a bomb of a hit on Adrian Kempe. It leveled the Kings center and his teammates gave him props at the bench afterward.
