EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Anze Kopitar will be honored for multiple recent milestones when the Los Angeles Kings host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; BSW, MSG-B).
Kopitar became the Kings’ leader in games played (1,297) on Oct. 21 against the Boston Bruins, passing Dustin Brown, and their leader in assists (758) on Dec. 3 against the Colorado Avalanche, passing Marcel Dionne. He also scored his 400th NHL goal on Nov. 8 at the Vegas Golden Knights and moved into sole possession of second on the Los Angeles points list (1,155), behind Dionne (1,307), the next day with an assist against the Pittsburgh Penguins, passing Luc Robitaille.
“It’s obviously a lot of excitement, and very humbling feeling to be able to do it for this long, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it,” the 36-year-old center said Tuesday.
With the Kings having lost 11 of their past 13 games (2-6-5), Kopitar is trying to use the lessons learned during his illustrious 18-season NHL career, all with Los Angeles, to help get his team back on track. A two-time Stanley Cup winner in 2012 and 2014, Kopitar said the experience of the Kings’ first title run is helpful at a time like this.
Los Angeles (22-13-9) holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and is two points ahead of the Nashville Predators.
“The season has its ups and downs,” Kopitar said. “If you look at the ’12 season, we were on the very outside looking in with 20 games left, so saying that, we’re still in a good position right now even though we’re not doing very great.
“It’s something that you got to work towards and build the character and grow as a team and just battle through it. There’s nothing more satisfying than battling through it and figuring it out as a team and, you know, go on a run and hopefully be the last team standing.”
Selected by the Kings in the first round (No. 11) of the 2005 NHL Draft, Kopitar has 1,180 points (407 goals, 773 assists) in 1,336 regular-season games and 77 points (24 goals, 53 assists) in 92 playoff games. He has been the Kings captain since 2016-17, and coach Todd McLellan said Kopitar’s leadership has been critical in helping lead them back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
McLellan, who is in his fifth season as Kings coach, leaned heavily on Kopitar early on as Los Angeles went through a major rebuild.
“I believe as a captain, you have to be an extension of the organization, not just the coaching staff,” McLellan said Tuesday. “You have to buy into what’s going on around you, and then you’ve got to take that, believe in it, and share it with the players.
“No matter what we try and incorporate, he tries to find a way to make it work.”
Kopitar has also helped to develop a new generation of leadership within the Kings, with McLellan mentioning forwards Adrian Kempe and Trevor Moore as examples.
“Through the tough stretches or the good times, he’s always the best leader,” Kempe said. “Always in a good mood. Never brings you down or anything. He always makes you smile.”
Kopitar said his favorite role in the dressing room is being a good teammate.
“I guess teammate-slash-friend,” Kopitar said. “Yes, I’m a little bit older than the majority of the guys, but I’m not that old quite yet."
Kopitar, a two-time winner of both the Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL (2016, 2018) and the Lady Byng Trophy for skill and gentlemanly play (2016, 2023), singled out his number of games played as his most significant individual achievement. He has played the 59th-most games in NHL history.
“Games played versus games missed, really,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate enough and I guess durable enough to not miss very many games.”
Even with that heavy workload, he remains one of the most complete players in hockey. Kopitar, who has 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 44 games this season, finished fifth in the voting for the Selke last season, when it was won by Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins.
As for how to describe Kopitar’s continued commitment to being a two-way player, McLellan said, “Winner.”
“That’s what winners do,” the coach said. “They do what they need to do for the group and the organization and the community, not always for themselves. And the more you give, the more you get, and ‘Kopi’s’ given a lot to his teammates and to this team. And in return -- I’m not talking about financial or anything like that -- I’m talking about getting recognition from his teammates, from his coaches. A pat on the back from a fan. The ceremony tomorrow night, that’s what you get in return. And winners do those things.”
