LOS ANGELES — A lower-body injury to Kings icon Anže Kopitar denied his much-anticipated matchup with fellow captain Sidney Crosby, whose Pittsburgh Penguins prevailed, 4-2, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Pittsburgh trailed by two goals early but broke a tie in the third period with a shorthanded marker and then sealed the Kings’ fate in the final minute.

After winning a franchise-record 31 home games last season, the Kings have dropped two games in a row at home and four of five overall to start this campaign.

Sans Kopitar, the Kings got goals from Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala. Anton Forsberg made 22 saves on a night when the Kings were also missing starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper because of a lower-body injury.

Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Connor Dewar and Filip Hållander score

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