Kopitar scores twice in 3rd, Kings rally past Flyers

LOS ANGELES -- Anze Kopitar scored twice in the third period to help the Los Angeles Kings rally for a 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday.

Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist, and David Rittich made 17 saves for the Kings (21-10-5), who have won seven straight on home ice.

Los Angeles was playing the second game of a back-to-back after winning 4-3 in overtime against the Edmonton Oilers here on Saturday.

“They create a lot of chances off the rush but also give up a lot off the rush, so it’s easy to fall into that kind of game when you play a team like that,” Kempe said. “Second and third period I think we were much better."

Matvei Michkov and Scott Laughton each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (16-17-4), who were also playing the second game of a back-to-back after winning 3-1 at the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Aleksei Kolosov made 15 saves.

“We played so much better than we played against Anaheim, because I thought we didn’t play well against Anaheim at all and win the game,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “I thought we played so much better tonight.”

Kopitar tied it 4-4 at 6:44 of the third period when the rebound of Quinton Byfield’s one-timer struck the Kings captain in the chest and trickled just across the goal line.

“He is who he is, so you get him out there and good things happen,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said of Kopitar. “He goes to the net, that’s how he scores them.”

Kopitar then put the Kings in front 5-4 at 8:55, scoring five seconds into a power play by redirecting Kempe’s shot from the point.

“Usually in these types of games the power play does make a difference,” Kopitar said. “We were able to kill the penalties that we took and get one on the power play.”

Kevin Fiala opened the scoring for the Kings at 5:14 of the first period with a one-timer from the left circle set up by Alex Laferriere.

Tyson Foerster tied it 1-1 at 8:17. He took a stretch pass from Cam York, held off defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and beat Rittich five-hole on a partial breakaway during 4-on-4 play.

Laughton put the Flyers ahead 2-1 at 14:09, driving to the crease and putting in the rebound of Michkov’s sharp-angled shot.

Kempe tied it up again 2-2 at 16:54 with a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Brandt Clarke.

Michkov put the Flyers back in front 3-2 at 11:03 of the second period, throwing the puck in off Rittich's left skate from behind the net.

Michkov did not have a point and was minus-11 in his previous seven games, which included getting benched for the third period against the Ducks.

“There are so many things that he’s going to experience now as we start getting to January, into the grind of the dog days, that he’s never seen before,” Tortorella said. “I thought ‘Mich’ competed harder tonight. I thought there was a big difference in his game.”

Joel Farabee made it 4-2 at 13:42, muscling in Garnet Hathaway’s centering pass in the crease while battling for position with Clarke.

Warren Foegele cut it to 4-3 at 15:04, burying his own rebound on a breakaway after intercepting a between-the-legs pass from Travis Konecny at the defensive blue line.

“To me, the biggest (play), the change of the game was up 4-2 and we give him one for free,” Tortorella said.

NOTES: Kopitar has 123 career power-play goals, which is tied with Dave Taylor for third most in Los Angeles history. Kopitar also has 431 career goals, which is also tied with Taylor for third most in franchise history. ... Foegele and Byfield each had four points (two goals, two assists) in the back-to-back.