Kopitar scores twice, Kings shut out Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Anze Kopitar scored two of the Los Angeles Kings' four first-period goals in a 5-0 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday.

Cam Talbot made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season and 31st of his NHL career for the Kings (34-21-11). Alex Laferriere, Jordan Spence and Pierre-Luc Dubois each had a goal and an assist, and Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe each had two assists.

“I’m going to tell you this: It’s always high stress when you’re standing back there (behind the bench),” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “... It was great to get off with the lead. But what we saw was [Talbot] had to make two or three big saves early. It could’ve been a different game, so credit the goalie there, and nice to see the puck go in for us. We had a lot of good chances [in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday], so we wanted to play the same offensive game, just clean up a couple of mistakes. It was nice to see the puck go in for us.”

Arvid Soderblom made 10 saves on 14 shots for the Blackhawks (18-44-5) before being replaced by Petr Mrazek at 14:19 of the first period. Mrazek made 22 saves.

The Blackhawks had won two in a row, scoring seven goals in each game. They have been shut out 10 times this season, the most in the NHL.

Of the difference in the game, Chicago coach Luke Richardson said, “The L.A. Kings. It was a little bit of both tonight. I think we didn’t probably have our best game, but they really played well, and they’re a big, heavy team. We had a hard time winning puck battles. I think that was a big difference tonight.”

Dubois put the Kings ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 3:10 of the first period. A shot from the blue line by Spence rebounded off the end boards and came to Dubois in the left face-off circle, where he scored on a wrist shot.

Laferriere made it 2-0 at 5:33, deflecting in a wrist shot from Matt Roy, who moved in from the right point.

The Kings increased the lead to 3-0 at 8:03 when Kopitar took a cross-ice pass from Byfield and scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

Kopitar’s second of the game made it 4-0 at 14:19, chasing Soderblom. He scored near the left post after Byfield fed him with a backhand from the right circle. The goal gave Kopitar 20 for a 13th season, putting him ahead of Marcel Dionne, Luc Robitaille and Dave Taylor for the most in Kings history.

“We needed to spark something with the team more than taking Arvid out,” Richardson said.

Spence’s first goal of the season, in his 55th game, gave Los Angeles a 5-0 lead at 2:33 of the second period. He got to a rebound below the right circle and banked a shot off Mrazek at the near post. It was Spence’s first goal since April 12, 2022, also at Chicago.

“Yeah, every game I go in, and it’s always in the back of my head, trying to score,” the defenseman said. “But obviously, getting that one out of the way, it feels really good, and obviously, the boys were pretty happy about it, too.

“Going from now on, I’m not as stressed anymore, getting the first one out of the way. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to make the playoffs, and we’re trying to get the two points. In order for me to do that, I just have to keep doing my job and trying to contribute as much as I can.”

Chicago forward Jason Dickinson said falling behind 4-0 in the first period was deflating for the Blackhawks.

“It's not the first time it's happened to us,” he said. “It's something we're all-too-familiar with, and we need to be a lot better in the first period coming out and, even if we don't have our best, finding a way to get out of the period 1-0 or 0-0 or 2-0, whatever it may be, so we can give ourselves a chance in the second and third periods. Once you give up four like that, it's a tough task against any team.”

NOTES: Chicago center Connor Bedard was held without a point and had three shots on goal in 22:47 of ice time. He had eight points (three goals, five assists) in his previous two games. … Landon Slaggert made his NHL debut for the Blackhawks, finishing with no shots on goal in 10:32. The forward signed a two-year, entry-level contract Sunday after having 31 points (20 goals, 11 assists) in 36 games with the University of Notre Dame this season. … Chicago recalled forward Lukas Reichel from Rockford of the American Hockey League and assigned forward Zach Sanford. Neither played Friday.