The Pittsburgh Penguins allowed a late lead to slip away in their loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

PITTSBURGH – After a weekend of ceremonies and celebration of Jaromir Jagr, the Pittsburgh Penguins still had a game to worry about. With a fresh banner in the rafters, the Penguins looked to keep the good vibes alive against a Los Angeles Kings team that has struggled for the better part of two months.

The Kings have gone 6-9-6 since December 28 but have found some momentum since firing their head coach.

Tristan Jarry was in the net, and Matthew Phillips made his Penguins’ debut as the teams met for the second and final time of the season.

First Period

For a good chunk of the opening frame, it felt as if the Penguins and the arena were dead tired after the pregame ceremony and special warmups. The Penguins looked sloppy and were behind in shots for most of the 20.

Things finally started to come together towards the end of the frame, and the captain, Sidney Crosby, made sure things weren’t a complete disaster. On their second power play opportunity of the period, Crosby won a faceoff cleanly as the puck found its way back to him for the game’s first goal.

Crosby scoring first with Jagr in the building was a perfect way to kickstart the game and get the crowd into things after exhausting a ton of energy pregame. The Penguins took the 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Second Period

Whatever momentum the Penguins built near the end of the first period, it didn’t quite continue into the second. The Kings doubled up the Penguins in shots through the period, but neither team found the back of the net.

Third Period

The third period started the same way, as neither team looked very threatening. The Penguins had another early power play slip out of their hands, keeping their lead stuck at one.

That one-goal lead disappeared with just over 6 minutes remaining when a blast from Adrian Kempe beat Jarry to knot the score.

The Penguins were given a chance to answer as the Kings took a delay of game penalty soon after. Not only did the Penguins not capitalize on their chance, but the Kings grabbed a late lead with another tally from Kempe, short-handed.

In a matter of minutes, the Penguins went from the driver's seat up by a tally to down by their own with little time left. The Penguins pulled Jarry for the extra attacker and took a timeout to draw up a game plan for the final minute.

Whatever was drawn up wasn't enough as the Penguins see their lead turn into a 2-1 loss to the Kings.

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