A wild and entertaining affair in Los Angeles came to a dramatic conclusion when Anze Kopitar scored his second goal of the game just 2:57 into overtime, sending the Kings to a wild 5-4 victory over Edmonton.
Kopitar Slams Home Winner
The Kings opened the scoring, taking an early 1-0 lead on a power play goal from Adrian Kempe. But Edmonton roared back, scoring three unanswered goals to build a 3-1 lead of their own. Michael Bunting tied the game at one, then Zach Hyman gave Edmonton the lead. Evander Kane extended the lead to 3-1 in the final minutes of the second period before Los Angeles broke the momentum late in the period. Gabe Vilardi snuck one past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner with 1:32 left in the second to cut the deficit to 3-2, giving the home crowd renewed hope.
The Kings kept rolling in the third period, with Viktor Arvidsson tying the game at 3-3 just 3:40 into the period. Hyman put Edmonton back on top at 4-3 midway through the third, but Trevor Moore once again tied the game at four with just 1:48 left on the clock. The tying goal forced overtime, and it only took a few minutes for Kopitar to end the game and secure the victory for Los Angeles.
Kopitar’s goal was his 12th of the season and gave him 323 career goals with the Kings, moving him past former teammate Dustin Brown for the third-most goals in franchise history. The win was the Kings’ second straight and improved their record to 7-6-3. Edmonton dropped to 9-7-0.
Kind regards
R. Bauer
