Kopitar, Kings recover for shootout win against Kraken to end 3-game skid

The Los Angeles Kings ended a three-game skid with a 3-2 shootout victory against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Saturday.

Carl Grundstrom scored in the ninth round of the shootout to win it.

“Obviously, kind of a relief to win that game,” Los Angeles center Phillip Danault said. “We knew we weren’t playing well the last couple of games, so it was a big game for us. Doing it that way was very stressful, but it was fun.”

Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore scored for the Kings (17-6-4), who were 0-2-1 in their previous three games. Cam Talbot made 17 saves.

Oliver Bjorkstrand tied it late in the third period, and Adam Larsson scored for the Kraken (10-14-8), who had won two straight and were unable to complete their first three-game winning streak of the season. Joey Daccord made 36 saves.

“Battle level was high, and that’s a big part of our game,” Seattle center Yanni Gourde said. “If we do that on a consistent basis, we’re going to win more games than we’re going to lose.”

Bjorkstrand tied it 2-2 at 17:32 of the third, scoring on a wrist shot from the high slot through traffic.

“I think we worked really hard getting back in that game,” Gourde said. “We battled hard in the third. Didn’t give them much. We kept pushing and pushing and eventually got our break.”

Larsson gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 6:45 of the first period, beating Talbot between his legs with a soft sharp-angle shot as the goaltender had his view blocked by traffic.

It was Larsson’s 300th consecutive NHL game played.

“He’s a warrior,” Bjorkstrand said. “He battles every game and is always ready to play. That’s impressive. That’s a lot of games.”

Moore tied it 1-1 at 13:32, cutting in to score on a backhand from close range after Seattle failed to clear the puck out of the slot.

“They scored the first goal, but we kept doing our thing and it worked out,” Danault said.

Kopitar put Los Angeles up 2-1 at 17:16 of the second period on the power play, getting behind the Seattle defense to score into an open net at the left post.

“I thought tonight we deserved to win,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We played a good, solid game, and if we wouldn’t have won it, [it] would have stung a little bit.”

Tomas Tatar had one shot on goal in 13:47 of ice time in his Kraken debut after being acquired in a trade from the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.

“He was solid,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s had an awful lot happening over the last 24 hours. He gave us good minutes. He makes a lot of little plays out there that might go unnoticed, so it was a good start for him.”

NOTES: The Kings were 1-for-4 on the power play. The Kraken were 1-for-2. … Kopitar has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. … Seattle defenseman Ryker Evans has four assists during a three-game point streak. … Vince Dunn had the secondary assist on Larsson’s goal. It was Dunn’s third assist during a three-game streak. … Talbot is 3-1-1 in his past five starts.