Kopitar scores four goals as Kings cruise

Anze Kopitar became the first Kings player with a four-goal game since 1993, Jonathan Quick stopped 29 shots and Los Angeles picked up another valuable road win by cruising past the Colorado Avalanche 7-1 on Thursday in Denver.

Kopitar was so efficient that he picked up his fourth career hat trick with 7:33 remaining in the second period. He added another goal early in the third. This was the first four-goal game by a Kings player since Luc Robitaille accomplished the feat on Nov. 25, 1993, at Quebec.

Tobias Rieder had two goals and Jake Muzzin scored his first goal since Feb. 3 for the Kings, who surpassed Anaheim for the third spot in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles improved to 6- 0-2 over its last eight road games.

Quick allowed an early goal to Mikko Rantanen and was stellar after that in a game that had a playoff feel. Well, at least early, before the Kings reeled off seven unanswered goals.

The Kings beat an Avalanche team that’s 15-3-1 in its last 19 games on home ice. Colorado remains in a wild- card spot with eight games remaining. HURRICANES 6, COYOTES 5 » In Raleigh, N.C., Jeff Skinner scored his second goal with 1:58 left, and Carolina beat Arizona despite giving up a weird goal when the puck stuck in goalie Cam Ward’s skate. Skinner added an assist, and Valentin Zykov scored two goals, the second tying it at 5 with 10:14 remaining. Arizona’s Alex Goligoski scored twice, including arguably themost bizarre goal of the season when Ward unknowingly skated across the red line with the puck lodged in his right skate. It cut Carolina’s lead to 2-1. “That first one was probably one of the weirdest goals I’ve ever seen,” Skinner said. LIGHTNING 7, ISLANDERS 6 » J.T. Miller scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and highscoring Tampa Bay held off host New York. Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman each added a goal and an assist, Tyler Johnson also scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for his NHL-leading 42nd victory, extending Tampa Bay’s franchise record. BLUEJACKETS4, PANTHERS0 » Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and host Columbus earned its 10th straight victory. Sonny Milano, Seth Jones and Thomas Vanek also scored. The Blue Jackets joined Philadelphia (198486) and Pittsburgh (201013) as the only teams with 10-game winning streaks in consecutive seasons. CAPITALS 1, RED WINGS 0 » Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Brett Connolly scored on a thirdperiod breakaway to lift visiting Washington past Detroit. The Capitals have won six of seven and lead Pittsburgh and Columbus by four points atop the Metropolitan Division. Washington has turned increasingly to Grubauer of late after Braden-Holtby struggled in February and at the beginning of March. Holtby wasn’t available because of an injury coach Barry Trotz described as a tweak. MAPLE LEAFS 5, PREDATORS 2» Auston Matthews had a goal in his return from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 10 games, and Toronto won Nashville, Tenn. The Predators had been 14- 0-1 since their previous regulation loss on Feb. 17. OILERS6, SENATORS2 » Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists and visiting Edmonton eliminated Ottawa from playoff contention. Drake-Caggiula also had two goals, Ryan-Nugent-Hopkins and Ty Rattie scored, and Cam Talbot stopped 33 shots for the Oilers. FLYERS 4, RANGERS 3 » Travis Konecny scored twice, Claude Giroux had three assists, and host Philadelphia beat New York. CANUCKS 5, BLACKHAWKS 2 » Alexander Edler scored twice, Jacob Markstrom made 39 saves and visiting Vancouver beat Chicago to stop a seven-game slide. NOTES » Former NHL forward and coach Eddie Olczyk is cancer-free after months of treatment. The 51-year- old Olczyk made the announcement during the first intermission of the Canucks-Blackhawks game. Olczyk is a color analyst for TV broadcasts for the Blackhawks and NBC Sports. ... Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is out with an upper-body injury and will be re- evaluated next week. ... Red Wings defenseman Mike Green will have season-ending surgery on his cervical spine.