An early Saturday tilt between the Los Angeles Kings and Florida Panthers ended with a 4-1 win for the Kings.
Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar scored over 4:18 stretch in the second period to knock the Panthers off their game.
“I think that was a big emotional momentum changer for us, and to come out two or three shifts later and tie it 1-1 was probably the turning point of the game,” Los Angeles forward Milan Lucic said. “It was good to see the killer instinct in the guys to not look back after that.”
Lucic had a goal in the third.
Jonathan Quick made 18 saves for the Kings a win that sent the Panthers to their fifth straight loss.
“We’re a better team than what our record shows, and I think that’s what’s more shocking than anything,” defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “Unfortunately we get into these little five-minute spurts during games where the wheels fall off, and we’ve really got to clean that up. There’s no excuse for it.”
Nick Bjugstad had Florida’s only goal.
“To me, that’s a team that you’ve seen win two Stanley Cups in the last four or five years,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. “They play a man’s game, and we’ve still got some kids in there, and we talked about it. We have to step up, and you learn a lot of things when you play a team like them.
“I’m not disappointed. I’m disappointed with about six or seven minutes tonight.”
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