EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Anze Kopitar fired a wrist shot past Stuart Skinner’s glove and into the top corner on a breakaway to give the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series.
Playing in his 94th postseason game to tie Luc Robitaille’s franchise record, Kopitar picked up the puck near the Edmonton blue line, moved in and shot from the slot as Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse dove to try to block the shot.
“Honestly, it was kind of a wacky play where Mikey (Anderson) throws it up the boards, and I think it was Q (Quentin Byfield) who tipped it, or was trying to tip it just to prevent the icing,” Kopitar said. “Next thing you know, I had it right on my stick, so I figured I’d make the most of it.”
The Los Angeles captain also had two assists to help the Kings — eliminated by the Oilers in the first round the previous two seasons — rebound from a 7-4 loss Monday night in the opener. Game 3 is Friday night in Los Angeles.
“To see Kopi get that one at the end, great to see the goal go in, but I can tell you for me personally, and I’m sure the guys, just for a guy that’s done as much as he has, to get another overtime game-winning goal was special,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “One game for them, one game for us and now we go to L.A.”
Adrian Kempe scored twice in the first period for Los Angeles. Drew Doughty also connected in the first for the Kings, making it 3-1. Kevin Fiala scored in the third, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves.
Dylan Holloway scored twice for Edmonton, tying it at 4 early in the third period. Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, and Skinner stopped 21 shots.
“I thought we played a good game and had the puck most of the night,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “They are going to have their looks and their bounces, but I still liked the way we played and hopefully we can build off of that.”
The teams traded goals early in the third. Fiala gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead at 1:46, and Holloway tied it at 3:23.
“We all didn’t feel good about our first game, so we had a lot to prove this game and everyone stepped up their game and Kopi led the way,” said Byfield, who had two assists. “Leaders lead and that’s what we did, we just followed him and it was a lot better.”
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