Win is closer than it looks
Kopitar’s goal from behind the net makes the difference against the Red Wings.
Kings defeat Red Wings 4-1 after Kopitar breaks third-period tie.
Judging by the look on his face, the most surprised person in the arena was Anze Kopitar.
That’s not often said of the goal scorer, but his game winner Thursday was probably the oddest of his career. It was more like a random shot in a pickup street hockey game: Chasing the play behind the Detroit Red Wings’ net, Kopitar got the shaft of his stick on a fluttering puck, had it ramp off his arm before it popped up over the crossbar and in off of 6foot-6 goalie Jared Coreau.
“It was definitely one of the strangest ones that I’ve scored,” Kopitar said.
The play unfolded so slowly that when Kopitar went to the front of the net to whack in the puck he saw it trickle in, like a coin deposited in a kid’s money bank, for the deciding score in a 4-1 win in front of 18,230 fans at Staples Center.
“When plays like that happen, it’s kind of in slow motion,” Kopitar said. “I was right at the post and seeing it tumble and I was like, ‘What’s going to happen? Can I get a stick on it?’ And then I saw it roll down his back and I started celebrating.”
It could have been the hockey gods repaying the Kings for a goal off the netting by Detroit in a 2014 game.
“Well, this one’s legal, right?” Kopitar said.
But it was really the Kings working their way through a sluggish second period, killing off a penalty to start the third and finishing off a game Red Wings team with third-period goals by Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown, on an empty net.
Rookie defenseman Paul LaDue also pitched in with the game’s first goal, in his first game since Feb. 13. His wrist shot from the right side found the net at 8:55 of the first period.
“It was unbelievable,” LaDue said. “This is my first playoff run here, so it’s something special and I’ve got to take a lot of things away from it.”
LaDue’s high-sticking penalty on Jonathan Ericsson at the end of the second period facilitated Detroit’s tying goal. LaDue’s stick didn’t appear to hit Ericsson in the face, but it was high, and the Red Wings converted 45 seconds into the third period on Gustav Nyquist’s putback of his own tip on Niklas Kronwall’s shot.
But, overall, the Kings like LaDue’s offensive instincts. Kings coach John Stevens praised LaDue, among other depth players, for toiling in practice.
“They’ve worked extremely hard to stay sharp so they can come in and help us,” Stevens said. “It’s a credit to Paulie and the work he’s done that he was able to come in and have a game like that, that’s a hard, fast game, and be a good player.”
Toffoli went after the puck amid several Red Wings and knocked it in with 90 seconds remaining for his 23rd goal. Kopitar’s two assists tied his career high at 51. His goal was his teamleading 29th.
“Just one of those games where you’ve just got to stay with it, and hope you catch a break,” Stevens said. “Obviously we caught a break there. But it’s not often you see a play like that. Maybe it helped us out [that] goalie’s so tall. But it was a hard game, and I thought our best players led the way tonight, and Kopi’s certainly one of them.”