LOS ANGELES – Marian Gaborik continued his hot shooting against the St. Louis Blues and the tables were turned on Thursday as this time it was the Kings who came back from three goals down in the first half to defeat the Blues 6-4 in a scoring slugfest.
Anze Kopitar finished with a career high five points, and Jeff Carter tied his career high with four points as the power play trio of Kopitar, Carter and Gaborik combined for four goals and eight assists on the night.
“They’re some of the best players in the NHL,” said Blues RW Dmitrij Jaskin about the Kings trio of stars. “They’re really skilled, fast and strong so you have to be aware they’re on the ice and play your best game.”
Jaskin added a goal of his own, as did David Backes and Kevin Shattenkirk during a 2:48 span in the first period that saw the Kings go down 3-0 before fans had even reached their seats.
The Kings would rally however, all started by Kopitar and Gaborik who got the Kings on the scoreboard at the end of the first period.
The Kings continued the comeback in the second period as Kopitar and Gaborik each scored equalizing the score at three apiece. But seconds later, Blues center, Jori Lehtera scored for St. Louis temporarily squashing the Kings momentum.
The Kings opened up the third period with a game-tying goal by Carter, his 8th of the season. Jake Muzzin scored the go-ahead goal for the Kings off of a power play in the ninth minute, and Dwight King put the cherry on top of the sundae with his 4th goal of the season.
“Some other teams would probably pack it in after the 3-0 [deficit], but not this team,” said Kopitar after the Kings came back from a three-goal deficit for the first time since March 5, 2013. “We have a lot of character. We have a lot of guys that care about each other and like playing for each other so that’s a big part of how we came back too.”
The scoring spree is not unfamiliar for these two teams as they combined for seven total goals just 48 hours earlier at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. In that game, the Kings jumped out to an early two-goal lead in the first period only to see them surrender five consecutive goals en route to a 5-2 defeat.
“Last game we blew the third period and we were excited to come back and play these guys again,” said Gaborik about playing the same team in back-to-back games. Gaborik has now scored in three consecutive games and also had two goals on Tuesday in St. Louis.
The ageless wonder, Martin Brodeur, started in goal against the Kings for the first time since the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals when the 42-year-old was in net for the New Jersey Devils whom the Kings ousted in six games to hoist their first ever Stanley Cup.
The nearly 18,230 in attendance welcomed Brodeur back to Staples Center with taunts of “Marty…Marty…” all night long. The St. Louis Blues goalkeeper allowed a horrendous six goals on 37 shots, but had a comical moment late in the third as the puck slid under his jersey prompting a break in the action as Brodeur and the referee’s searched for it.
Brodeur and Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick, have combined for five Stanley Cup championships, three Olympic medals, four Vezina Trophies, six Jennings Trophies, one Conn Smythe Trophy and 158 NHL playoff wins, but were both awful on the night surrendering a combined 10 goals.
Quick made only 24 saves, but a handful were highlight-reel worthy including an absolutely incredible stop with ten minutes left in the game on Blues defenseman Chris Butler.
Game Notes:
Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr left the game with an upper body injury. St. Louis Blues center, T.J. Oshie returned after missing Tuesday’s contest for family reasons. Actor Charlie Sheen was in attendance for the game and wore a backwards LA Kings hat and sunglasses.
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