Pheonix Copley made an NHL career-high 45 saves for the Los Angeles Kings in a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Friday.
“It’s great, congratulations to him,” Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. “I think with all these PKs it was a challenge for us, and we knew that during the game, and you need your goalie to be the best killer out there for you, so he did a great job and we’re happy we could play well in front of him.”
Florida was 0-for-5 on the power play; Los Angeles was 0-for-2.
Adrian Kempe and Viktor Arvidsson each scored short-handed for the Kings (28-17-6), who have won three in a row and played at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
“That was big-time character, that’s what good teams do,” Copley said. “Being able to weather the storm when they had their game going, and then we could get down to their end and get our game going. That’s huge for us and it shows a lot.”
Video: LAK@FLA: Kempe and Lizotte team up to score SHG
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers (23-22-6), who have lost three in a row and played the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Alex Lyon Made 29 saves in his fifth consecutive start Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight injured.
“We made a good push, but at the same point, it’s tough to lose a game like that,” Florida forward Ryan Lomberg said. “It’s the time of the year we have to start getting these points.”
Florida outshot Los Angeles 48-33, including 30-13 after the Kings took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.
“Well, we can look at it from a positive perspective,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “Good teams, when the momentum swings as much as it did tonight, find ways to win, and that’s what we did. From the negative side, we’re up 3-0 and a couple of quick goals put us on our heels, so we have work to do and growth to gain when those things happen. But they’re a tough team to play.”
Video: LAK@FLA: Arvidsson scores SHG in 2nd period
Kopitar gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 13:25 of the first period with a backhand from close range after Kempe won a board battle behind the net. It was his third goal in two games.
Kempe made it 2-0 at 17:58 with his 20th goal of the season, a short-side wrist shot on a 2-on-1 after taking a pass from Blake Lizotte.
Arvidsson made it 3-0 at 9:58 of the second period when he redirected Mikey Anderson‘s pass across the front of the net. The goal came one second into a three-minute Florida power play Alex Turcotte was assessed a five-minute penalty for boarding against Gustav Forsling and Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad got a minor for roughing.
“They were just sharper [early],” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We were just slow in terms of how we moved the puck. Their game is simpler than ours, and that’s the difference. They dumped every puck and just waited for a break. Anytime you give up a [short-handed goal]it hurts the bench a little bit.”
Video: LAK@FLA: Kopitar sends the centering feed home
Lomberg cut it to 3-1 at 13:23 with a short-range backhand just under the crossbar.
Brandon Montour made it 3-2 at 16:19 with a slap shot from the left face-off circle. He extended his point streak to eight games (two goals, six assists), a Panthers record for a defenseman.
“It’s nice to get milestones, especially with a franchise like this,” Montour said. “My mindset, I’m just trying to make some plays, make something happen every time I’m out there, and things are going well, but wins are what matters right now. And we’ve got to find a way to get those.”
Roy scored an empty-net goal at 18:58 of the third period to make it 4-2 before Verhaeghe scored at 19:26 for the 4-3 final.
“I think it was a bit of relief there at the end,” Roy said. “We’re glad we could get the empty net goal. We wish we didn’t make it interesting there, but we’re happy to get the two points and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
NOTES: Forsling returned for the third period, but Maurice indicated he wasn’t sure Forsling would play Saturday. … Kopitar has 40 points (15 goals, 25 assists), his 17th season with 40 or more. He joins Alex Ovechkin (17) as the only active player to accomplish that. … Los Angeles hadn’t scored multiple short-handed goals since Nov. 3, 2018 (Kopitar, Dustin Brown). … Copley’s previous high was 37 saves Jan. 8, 2019, when he was with the Washington Capitals. … Florida center Alexander Barkov had an assist on Verhaeghe’s goal to extend his point streak to 10 games (four goals, 10 assists), an NHL career high. … Panthers forward Eric Staal had an assist in 11:29 after missing three games with a concussion. … Verhaeghe has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in a seven-game point streak.
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