Los Angeles 4, Arizona 3
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 26, 2015
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Referees:
Kyle Rehman, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen:
Jay Sharrers, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance:
15277
By The Sports Xchange
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Los Angeles Kings had seen enough of Arizona's southern California dominance this season, but it took extra time to finally break through against the Coyotes when center Anze Kopitar scored on a partial breakaway 36 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 victory on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.
The win was Los Angeles' first against the Coyotes (16-15-3) in three meetings this season and handed Arizona its first loss in six games against southern California teams Anaheim and Los Angeles.
Defenseman Drew Doughty, left winger Trevor Lewis and right winger Dustin Brown had goals in a third-period flurry that rallied the Kings from a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in a 6:23 span.
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two goals and center Antoine Vermette scored one for Arizona, which got 28 saves from goalie Louis Domingue.
Jonathan Quick made 23 stops for the Kings (21-11-2).
The game was marked by 13 power plays and five power-play goals between the two rivals, including a late match penalty against Los Angeles defenseman Jake Muzzin that nearly cost his team the game.
Muzzin struck Arizona center Boyd Gordon in the head with his backside late in the third period. Shortly after a major penalty was assessed, Kings defenseman Alec Martinez flipped a puck over the glass, giving the Coyotes a 5-on-3 power play for two minutes.
Vermette drew the Coyotes within 3-2 when he deflected defenseman Michael Stone's shot from the point past Quick at 16:07. Ekman-Larsson got the equalizer through traffic 30 seconds later on a 5-on-4 power play to force overtime and give the Coyotes a point.
"Muzz's (rear) on Boyd's face. It wasn't even a penalty; it was a hockey play," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "(Officials) had their arms up the whole night. It was all penalties and special teams."
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett had not talked to the trainers yet to get an update on Gordon, who left the ice after the play.
"It looked pretty nasty," said Tippett, who wasn't sure if Gordon would accompany the team to Denver for a Sunday game against the Avalanche.
Los Angeles left winger Milan Lucic gave the Coyotes a power play early in the game when he cross-checked Arizona defenseman Connor Murphy in retaliation for a clean hit that Murphy laid on him along the boards.
The Coyotes cashed in on the first of three first-period power plays when Ekman-Larsson's wrist shot through traffic eluded Quick and found the upper corner of the net for a 1-0 lead at 9:43.
"We just tried to play them hard and we did a really good job of that in the first and second periods," Ekman-Larsson said. "It's too bad we got away from that in the third. We took too many penalties."
Los Angeles wasn't able to muster many quality chances through two periods, but the Kings evened the score early in the third period on their fourth power play of the game. Doughty took a feed from Martinez at the left circle and rifled a one-timer off Domingue's glove hand just 37 seconds into the third period.
The goal seemed to open the floodgates for Los Angeles. Lewis centered a pass that deflected off Domingue and in to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 4:17 of the third.
Brown added the Kings' second power-play goal of the night on a one-timer from the left circle for a 3-1 lead at 6:23.
"It's not the typical third period that you usually see out of both teams with lots of power plays and lots of penalty kills," Kopitar said. "It's not what we wanted to do but at the end of the day we got two points."
NOTES: Coyotes C Martin Hanzal missed his second straight game and eighth of the season with a lower-body injury. Hanzal played more than 65 games in a full season since 2009-10. ... Coyotes D Zbynek Michalek returned to the lineup after missing the past four games with a lower-body injury. ... Los Angeles recalled LW Michael Mersch from Ontario of the AHL on Saturday and he was in the lineup. ... Coyotes prospect Christian Dvorak had an assist to help Team USA defeat Team Canada 4-2 on Saturday in a preliminary-round game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland. Coyotes prospect Dylan Strome scored Canada's second goal. The Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers are tied for the most NHL prospects (seven) participating in the tournament. ... Scouts from 11 teams were scheduled to attend Saturday's game. ... Kings C Jeff Carter left the game in the third period with an upper-body injury and will miss the rest of the team's four-game road trip.
Top Game Performances
Los Angeles |
|
Arizona |
Drew Doughty 2 |
Points |
Mikkel Boedker 3 |
Drew Doughty 1 |
Goals |
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 2 |
Drew Doughty 1 |
Assists |
Mikkel Boedker 3 |
Drew Doughty 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Oliver Ekman-Larsson 2 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Jonathan Quick .889 |
Save Percentage |
Louis Domingue .879 |
Jonathan Quick 24 |
Saves |
Louis Domingue 29 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Los Angeles
|
33 |
4 |
2-6 |
3-6 |
25 |
25 |
Arizona
|
27 |
3 |
3-6 |
4-6 |
19 |
37 |
Upcoming Games
-
Arizona will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .444 after a loss.
-
Los Angeles will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Kings have a W/L % of .619 after a win and .615 after a loss.