In Sunrise, Pheonix Copley made 44 saves, career best, in a 4-3 win for the Los Angeles Kings over the Panthers on Friday night.
“It’s great, congrats to him,” Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. “I think with all these PKs it was a challenge for us, and we knew that during the game, and you need your goalie to be the best killer out there for you, so he did a great job and we’re happy we could play well in front of him.”
The Kings got off to a fast start with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe scoring in the first period for a 2-0 advantage. Kempe’s goal was shorthanded, the first of two on the night for LA.
LA improved to 28-17-6.
“That was big-time character, that’s what good teams do,” Copley said. “Being able to weather the storm when they had their game going, and then we could get down to their end and get our game going. That’s huge for us and it shows a lot.”
Viktor Arvidsson pushed the Kings’ lead to 3-0 early in the middle frame, also off a shorthanded goal.
“I think it was a bit of relief there at the end,” Roy said. “We’re glad we could get the empty net goal. We wish we didn’t make it interesting there, but we’re happy to get the two points and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
The Panthers rallied back in the second period with goals from Ryan Lomberg and Brandon Montour for a 3-2 deficit headed to the third period.
“It’s nice to get milestones, especially with a franchise like this,” Montour said. “My mindset, I’m just trying to make some plays, make something happen every time I’m out there, and things are going good, but wins are what matters right now. And we’ve got to find a way to get those.”
The Panthers dropped to 23-22-6.
“They were just sharper [early],” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We were just slow in terms of how we move the puck. Their game is simpler than ours, and that’s the difference. They dumped every puck and just waited for a break. Anytime you give up a [short-handed goal], it hurts the bench a little bit.”
With 62 seconds left in the game, Matt Roy hit for an empty-net goal to make the score 4-2 to the Kings.
“Well, we can look at it from a positive perspective,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “Good teams, when the momentum swings as much as it did tonight, find ways to win, and that’s what we did. From the negative side, we’re up 3-0 and a couple of quick goals put us on our heels, so we have work to do and growth to gain when those things happen. But they’re a tough team to play.”
Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe scored with 34 seconds left for the 4-3 final.
Alex Lyon made 30 saves in the Florida loss.
“We made a good push, but at the same point, it’s tough to lose a game like that,” Lomberg said. “It’s the time of the year we have to start getting these points.”
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