#LAKings Kevin Fiala, Kings hold off Coyotes in shootout (Daily News)

• Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick, second from right, is scored on by Arizona Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown as left wing Nick Ritchie, left, right wing Christian Fischer, right, and defenseman Drew Doughty watch during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  
  
• Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick sprays water on his face prior to an NHL hockey game against the Arizona Coyotes Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  
  
• Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, left, celebrates his goal as Arizona Coyotes defenseman J.J. Moser skates by during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  
  
• Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram makes a glove save during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  
  
• Los Angeles Kings defenseman Matt Roy (3) celebrates his goal with teammates as Arizona Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka kneels in the crease during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
  

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LOS ANGELES –– The Kings upheld the old adage that you can’t win a hockey game in the first period Saturday, bombarding the Arizona Coyotes with five opening-frame goals before allowing them to send the game to a shootout, where the Kings finally prevailed 6-5.
Top scorer Kevin Fiala spearheaded the offensive with two goals and an assist. Centers Anze Kopitar and Blake Lizotte each contributed a goal and an assist. Defenseman Matt Roy also notched a goal. Jonathan Quick got the nod in net, earning his second victory in as many nights after going winless for more than two months.
Winger Clayton Keller tallied twice for Arizona. Defenseman Josh Brown, center Travis Boyd and winger Christian Fischer potted a goal apiece. Brown and Boyd both added an assist and rookie Matias Maccelli had two. Karel Vejmelka didn’t last through the opening 20 minutes, making just nine of 14 saves before giving way to Connor Ingram, whose spotless effort in relief extended Arizona’s points streak to eight games (4-0-4).
Winger Adrian Kempe did not extend his four-game goal streak in regulation but he and Gabe Vilardi both connected in the shootout to finally secure two points.
The Kings nearly averted overtime, drawing a late penalty, sustaining heavy pressure and even striking the post with a Fiala shot as the regulation buzzer loomed. With 2:59 to play in the extra session, they went back to the man advantage, spending the full two minutes in Arizona’s zone but failing to score.
Arizona struck twice in 44 seconds, beginning at the 7:06 mark of the third period. Two cross-ice passes allowed Boyd to score from the right faceoff dot after Kopitar nearly converted shorthanded and just as a Kings penalty had expired. Then Fischer came up with a point-blank equalizer off a rebound.
A mere 37 seconds into the final stretch, Keller had made it a double with a goal in transition. He skated the puck down in space and zoomed in on Quick while stickhandling with fervor. Keller got both Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson to sell out against the pass before he snuck a low shot inside the near post for his team-leading 23rd goal of the season.
A mostly academic second period was interrupted by a lengthy two-man advantage for the Coyotes, which led to one goal. Maccelli slid the puck from one faceoff dot to the other for Keller, who roofed a shot over a sliding Quick’s head with 4:20 left in the stanza.
Cruise control came on during the first period, wherein the Kings mounted a 5-1 lead. They last scored five goals in a period in a 6-5 victory over Colorado on Jan. 21, 2009, and last did it in a first period against Columbus during an 8-2 drubbing on Nov. 13, 2005.
With 4:12 to play in the opening frame, Fiala’s second goal of the night chased Vejmelka from the game. First, Lizotte knocked the puck off the stick of former Kings defenseman Troy Stecher. They went to the right-wing wall, where Lizotte took a hit from Stecher as he slipped the puck to Fiala with speed. Fiala combined guile, verve and skill as he beat three defenders to the net and deked into his 21st goal of 2022-23.
A minute earlier, Roy activated and crept into the low slot, where Kopitar found him with a delightful seam pass for a redirection goal. Roy now has eight goals, a personal best and tops among Kings defensemen.
For the second straight night, the Kings led a game by a tally of 3-1, reaching that point less than 12 minutes into the match. Fiala recovered the puck in the corner and found Alex Iafallo in the slot. Iafallo fanned on his initial attempt, then sent a low shot off Vejmelka’s pads that allowed Lizotte to pop in the rebound. His ninth goal left him one short of last year’s career high.Related Articles

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The Kings’ eighth unanswered shot on goal to start the game proved fortuitous, but so did the Coyotes’ first bid on net 66 seconds later. With 10:54 left in the first period the game was knotted at one, and 50 seconds later the Kings regained the lead.
That happened after a puck squirted out of the Kings’ zone along the way, where it was recovered by winger Quinton Byfield. He flipped a saucer pass skyward that sent Kopitar into daylight, where he finished a breakaway with a smooth transition onto his backhand to deposit the puck between Vejmelka’s legs. Kopitar has 21 points in 17 games during the 2023 calendar year.
Arizona had pulled even when defenseman Victor Soderstrom’s shot attempt was blocked, bouncing straight to his partner Brown for an inadvertent one-timer and his fourth goal of the season.
The Kings opened the scoring with a power-play tally, their 22nd in their past 19 games. Doughty’s slap shot from the high in the zone created a scramble down low, during which Fiala outworked J.J. Moser to will the puck across the goal line.


https://www.dailynews.com/2023/02/18...s-in-shootout/