Kopitar scores in OT to lift Kings over Coyotes 4-3
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) After a wild third period, all Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar thought about in overtime was making sure the game's final shot slid all the way into the net.
Kopitar scored 36 seconds into overtime to lift the Kings over the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 on Saturday night in a game that featured five third-period goals.
Kopitar skated past Viktor Tikhonov, faked goalie Louis Domingue to the ice with a forehand deke and backhanded the puck into the vacated right side of the net.
''I knew I was going to see some net there,'' Kopitar said. ''I just wanted to make sure it went in. The ice never is good in overtime.''
''It was just a power move,'' Kings captain Dustin Brown said. ''I think a lot of guys have that move, but Kopi has the patience few players have to wait it out.''
That saved the Kings on a night when Los Angeles rallied from a one-goal deficit only to squander a two-goal lead.
Drew Doughty, Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings, and Los Angeles won for the second time in six games.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and Antoine Vermette added a goal for the Coyotes. Arizona lost for only the second time in its past 10 home games.
Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Kings.
The Kings scored three goals in the first 6:23 of the third period for a 3-1 lead, but then the Coyotes took advantage of a match penalty against Jake Muzzin and score twice during the subsequent 5-minute power play.
Muzzin got the penalty for a blind hit on Boyd Gordon with 6:40 left. Gordon was on his knees just inside the blue line when Muzzin drove a hip into Gordon's head, leaving the Coyotes center face down on the ice.
''It looked pretty nasty,'' Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.
Asked what he saw on the play, Kings coach Darryl Sutter said ''Muzzin's (rear) on Gordon's face. It was a hockey play. It's not even a penalty.''
A delay of game call on Alec Martinez 2:33 later led to a 2-minute 5-on-3 advantage, and the Coyotes capitalized on Vermette's redirection of a shot by Michael Stone with 3:53 remaining.
Ekman-Larsson tied the game 30 seconds later when his shot from the high slot trickled between Quick's pads for Arizona's second goal on eight shots during the extended power play.
The Coyotes were aided by an undisciplined opening period from the Kings that led to three power plays. The first came when Milan Lucic cross-checked Connor Murphy behind the Coyotes net shortly after being checked off his feet by Murphy and led to Arizona's first goal.
Ekman-Larsson took a pass from Mikkel Boedker just outside the right faceoff circle and scored on a wrist shot that sailed over Quick's right shoulder at 9:43 of the first.
Los Angeles took advantage of a delay of game penalty on Brad Richardson with 14 seconds left in the second period, pulling even on Doughty's goal 37 seconds into the third.
The Kings took the lead 3:40 later, 2-1, with help from Ekman-Larsson. The defenseman tried to bounce a pass off the boards just outside the Coyotes' zone but instead sent the puck directly to Pearson, whose shot deflected off Murphy's stick and past Domingue at 4:17 of the period.
Brown made it 3-1 with 13:37 left, one-timing Nick Shore's pass from just below the left circle for the Kings' second power-play goal.
NOTES: Gordon left the ice under his own power. It wasn't certain whether he would join the team for their game Sunday in Colorado. ... Kings center Jeff Carter left the game early in the first period with an upper-body injury. Carter was sent back to Los Angeles after the game for further evaluation. ... Arizona defenseman Zbynek Michalek returned to the ice after missing the past four games with a lower-body injury. ... Coyotes center Martin Hanzal was out for the sixth time in seven games with a lower-body injury. ... Lucic was playing in his 600th career game. ... Brown has 16 goals and 31 points in 64 career games against the Coyotes.
