LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anze Kopitar has been one of the Los Angeles Kings’ most durable and productive players over the past 10 seasons, which is why they signed him to an $80 million, eight-year contract last month.
Kopitar has helped the Kings win two Stanley Cups in the last four seasons, and he appears poised to lead them to another. He scored his team-high 18th goal of the season on a power play Tuesday night for the go-ahead score in a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.
The 28-year-old center, who sat out Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win at Nashville because of a lower-body injury, got his fifth game-winner at 17:27 of the second from short range while Flames captain Mark Giordano was serving a holding penalty.
“We did grind it out,” Kopitar said. “Maybe we didn’t play our best game, but it’s that time of year where it doesn’t really matter, as long as you get the two points. We certainly realize there’s some room for improvement, but we have a pretty nice homestand now. We just need to keep building momentum at home and taking care of business.”
Los Angeles defenseman Luke Schenn also scored and Jonathan…