Kopitar scores four goals as Kings climb to third in Pacific Division
>> DENVER: Anze Kopitar became the first Kings player with a four-goal game since 1993, Jonathan Quick stopped 29 shots and Los Angeles beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-1 on Thursday night.
Kopitar was so efficient that he picked up his fourth career hat-trick with 7:33 minutes 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 on Nov 25, 1993, at Quebec.
Tobias Rieder had two goals and Jake Muzzin scored his first goal since Feb 3. Los Angeles improved to 6-0-2 in their last eight roads games and passed Anaheim for the third spot in the Pacific Division. Mikko Rantanen scored for Colorado. JT Miller scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and highscoring Tampa Bay held off New York 7-6.
Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman each added a goal and an assist, Tyler Johnson also scored, and Braydon Coburn and Yanni Gourde each had two assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for his NHL-leading 42nd victory, extending Tampa Bay’s franchise record. The Lightning improved to 12-2-1 in their last 15 games, extending their Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division leads to six points over idle Boston.
Anders Lee, Ryan Pulock and Anthony Beauvillier each scored twice for the Islanders. They lost for the 12th time in 14 games (2-8-4).
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots for his fifth shut-out of the season, Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and Columbus beat Florida 4-0 for their 10th straight victory.
Sonny Milano, Seth Jones and Thomas Vanek also scored. The Blue Jackets joined Philadelphia (1984-86) and Pittsburgh (2010-13) as the only teams with 10-game winning streaks in consecutive seasons.
Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his third shut-out of the season, and Brett Connolly scored on a third-period breakaway to lift Washington past Detroit Red 1-0.
The Capitals have won six of seven and lead Pittsburgh and Columbus by four points atop the Metropolitan Division as the regular season winds down.