Kings pull away from Flyers with four-goal first

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings scored four goals in the first period in a 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Staples Center on Tuesday.

Anze Kopitar had two assists to pass Luc Robitaille for fourth in Los Angeles history (598).
"Well, I'm going to let Luc know about it," Kopitar said of the Kings president and Hockey Hall of Famer. "It's gonna make me feel even better."
WATCH: [All Flyers vs. Kings highlights]
Jonathan Quick made 32 saves for Los Angeles (17-21-4), which scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded in the first for its second win in six games (2-3-1).
The Kings were 3-for-3 on the power play in their first game this season with three goals with the man-advantage.
"I think if you can create some type of internal competition between the two, then you've really got something going," Kings coach Todd McLellan said of each power-play unit scoring. "We haven't been able to get one unit going, never mind the second, and tonight they both contributed."

Claude Giroux scored a power-play goal to extend his point streak to four games, and Brian Elliott allowed four goals on 15 shots for the Flyers (22-13-5), who went 2-5-0 on the road in December. It was Philadelphia's second loss in seven games.
"A staple of our team so far this year has been our penalty kill, and tonight it wasn't very good," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "That combined with them scoring on our power play took us out of the game early. Tried to battle back, but we have a couple of guys right now who don't seem to have a lot of energy on the ice."
Kyle Clifford gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 5:31 of the first period when he scored on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
Alex Iafallo made it 2-0 at 6:57 when he tipped Kopitar's pass on the power play.
"They were aggressive," Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov said. "They were putting pucks at the net, and we just couldn't get to the loose pucks and couldn't get the rebounds. Their first goal on the power play was just a nice play, kind of nobody's fault. They skated right into an area and they hit him right away, so I don't think it was anybody's fault."
Tyler Toffoli put the Kings ahead 3-0 with a power-play goal at 8:45, following up his own rebound with a sharp-angled shot into an open net. Kopitar had the primary assist to pass Robitaille.
Adrian Kempe scored shorthanded at 17:52 for a 4-0 lead with a wrist shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush.
Carter Hart replaced Elliott to start the second period and made 13 saves in relief.
Justin Braun cut the Kings lead to 4-1 at 14:59 when his centering pass deflected in off defenseman Matt Roy's skate.
Martin Frk scored on the power play to make it 5-1 on a slap shot from the left circle at 1:31 of the third.
Giroux made it 5-2 by chipping a one-timer over Quick at the far post at 7:16. He has four points (one goal, three assists) during his point streak.
Braun's shot from the point went in off Scott Laughton's skate at 17:08 for the 5-3 final.
"We did our best trying to climb out of it but just couldn't tie the game and force the OT," Provorov said. "For now, just learn from the mistakes and move on."

They said it

"We came out hard for the last period and scored a couple goals and made it a hockey game, so I think we'll take that momentum into the game on Thursday (at the Vegas Golden Knights)." -- Flyers goalie Carter Hart
"We've been talking about improving our special teams, so to get that boost today was obviously great. And, at the end of the day, it won us the game." -- Kings captain Anze Kopitar

Need to know

The Flyers allowed three power-play goals for the second time this season. They allowed three to the Winnipeg Jets in a 7-3 loss Dec. 15. ... Laughton was plus-1 with four shots on goal in 14:33 in his return after missing the previous seven games because of a groin injury. ... Kopitar passed Robitaille in his 1,045th game. Robitaille played 1,077 for Los Angeles. ... Kopitar is 40 assists behind Dave Taylor for third in Kings history (638). ... Los Angeles scored four goals in a period for the first time since Feb. 5, 2019, at the New Jersey Devils, when they scored four times in the third period of a 5-1 win. The last time the Kings scored four in the first period was Nov. 26, 2014, in a 4-0 win at the Minnesota Wild. ... Iafallo has six points (two goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.

What's next

Flyers: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN360, SNE, SNO, ATTSM-RM, NBCSP, NHL.TV)
Kings: Host the Nashville Predators on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-TN, NHL.TV)