Anze Kopitar scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
It was the 41st multi-goal game of Kopitar’s career and his first this season. Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Trevor Moore and Carl Grundstrom also scored goals for Los Angeles, which snapped a two-game losing streak and won for just the second time in its past seven games (2-2-3).
Jonathan Quick, pulled after allowing five goals on 14 shots in a wild 9-8 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, stopped 18 of 21 shots.
Matias Maccelli had a goal and an assist and Nick Bjugstad and Christian Fischer also scored goals for Arizona, which played the 11th game of an NHL-record-tying 14-game road trip. Dylan Guenther added a pair of assists while Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves as the Coyotes fell to 1-5-2 in their past eight games.
Kopitar gave Los Angeles its first lead at the 5:22 mark of the third period. He deked defenseman J.J. Moser along the right boards and then broke in and rifled a wrist shot inside the top far left corner for his seventh goal of the season.
Fiala sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:58 remaining, his eighth goal of the season.
Arizona jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 12:45 mark of the first period on a short-handed breakaway goal by Fischer. He intercepted the puck near the blue line in his own zone and then broke away and beat Quick with a wrist shot on his glove side. It was his fourth goal of the season.
Los Angeles tied it 36 seconds later on a power-play goal by Kopitar, who one-timed a Gabriel Valardi crossing pass from the bottom of the right circle for his sixth goal of the season.
The Coyotes built a 3-1 lead early in the second period on goals by Maccelli, who deflected Troy Stecher’s point shot over Quick’s glove for his second of the season, and Bjugstad, who snapped a wrist shot from the left side of the crease off a Guenther crossing pass for his fifth.
The Kings rallied to tie it 3-3 later in the middle period. Los Angeles got a power-play goal from Moore, who redirected a crossing pass by Viktor Arvidsson for his seventh of the season, and Grundstrom, who finished a two-on-one break with Tobias Bjornfot with a snap shot from the right circle through Vejmelka’s pads for his sixth.
–Field Level Media
