Kings 4, Avalanche 1
All-Star Anze Kopitar scored a goal prior to exiting the contest with a broken right ankle and Jonathan Quick turned aside 20 shots as the Los Angeles Kings skated to a 4-1 home triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Ryan Smyth and Trevor Lewis collected a goal and an assist apiece, Michal Handzus netted a power-play tally and captain Dustin Brown notched a pair of assists as Los Angeles (43-26-6) secured its third victory in a row and seventh in nine games. With the win, the Kings swept the season series and improved to 8-0-1 in their last nine outings against the Avalanche.
The victory proved to be extremely costly as Kopitar will be sidelined a minimum of six weeks with the injury, coach Terry Murray announced after the game.
The Kings' leading scorer needed assistance to get off the ice in the second period. The stud center became tangled with Colorado defenseman Ryan O'Byrne in the corner and twisted his right leg in an awkward motion.
Kopitar opened the scoring at 10:30 of the first period with his 26th goal of the season and Handzus doubled the advantage just over seven minutes later.
After Milan Hejduk netted his 20th tally of the season - a feat he has accomplished in 11 of his 12 NHL campaigns, Smyth regained the two-goal advantage just 96 seconds into the third period.
Quick made the lead stand up to improve to 7-0-0 in his career against the Rocky Mountain residents.
Peter Budaj finished with 21 saves for Colorado (28-38-8).