Two nights after a 17-goal affair, the Kings and Coyotes faced off at Crypto.com Arena in a pivotal bounce-back game for the home team. Looking for a statement, the Kings found offense from all parts of their lineup in route to a 5-3 victory.
After giving up a shorthanded goal and falling behind 1-0, the Kings captain quickly changed the narrative and tied the game on the same power play opportunity. Assisting on the Kopitar goal was Kevin Fiala, who picked up his 20th assist and Gabriel Vilardi who tallied his fifth power play point on the season.
Moving forward to the second period, the Kings trailed 3-1 seven minutes into the middle stanza but did not blink. Regaining the momentum, Trevor Moore cut the deficit in hand with a back door tap-in, marking the Kings second power play goal of the night. Evening the game for the Kings was Carl Grundstrom who cashed in with a beautiful shot on a 2-on-1 with just 1:32 remaining in the period. Assisting on the Grundstrom tally was Samuel Fagemo, who picked up his first career NHL point and Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
Going into the third period tied, the Kings found offense from a familiar face in Kopitar who picked up the game-winning goal and his second goal of the game. With the pair of goals, Kopitar (23-66=89) passed Luc Robitaille (42-45=87) for the most points by a Kings player against the Coyotes in franchise history.
Jonathan Quick returned to the net after being pulled from his start on Tuesday night and stopped 18 shots.
12/1 - Kings 5, Coyotes 3
The Kings bounce back and score four unanswered goals to top the Coyotes.
Kopitar scores twice in Kings' home victory
