"Sometimes you just get beat," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "You have to give them a lot of credit, they played a big boy game and they were above pucks all night. It was tough to work out of our zone, tough to work through the neutral zone, and I didn't think we got our nose dirty enough. We were kind of tiptoeing around the ice. We know that we can do it, so it's just up to our guys to respond and get back at it."
Kopitar scored at 12:27 of the second period with a backhand to give the Kings a 5-1 lead. Varlamov was pulled following the goal and replaced by Jonathan Bernier, who made 13 saves.
Kopitar scored his fourth to make it 6-1 at 3:28 of the third. After intercepting a pass by Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, Kopitar skated down right wing and beat Bernier to the glove side.
"I came down the wing and at that point, I really just wanted to get a good shot off," Kopitar said. "I picked the corner and it went in."
Rieder extended the lead to 7-1 at 9:31.
Rantanen scored from in front of the net after a scramble to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 3:33 of the first period.
Kopitar tied it 1-1 at 4:28, scoring on a backhand following a turnover by Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
Muzzin scored from the left point off a face-off at 7:54 to make it 2-1, and Kopitar scored a power-play goal at 19:44 for a 3-1 lead.
