LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan Martinook scored in the ninth round of the shootout, and the Carolina Hurricanes blew a three-goal lead before hanging on for a 6-5 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
Sebastian Aho had a short-handed goal and an assist and scored again in the shootout for the Hurricanes, who opened a six-game road trip by wasting a three-goal lead midway through the second period. Martinook scored the last of Carolina's three shootout goals moments after Alex Laferriere missed for Los Angeles.
Captain Anze Kopitar scored his second goal to tie it with 1:22 left in regulation for the Kings, who trailed 5-2 midway through the second before surging back impressively.
Teuvo Teravainen also scored a short-handed goal, and Brendan Lemieux scored against his former team while Carolina racked up five goals on its first 12 shots against Kings goalie Pheonix Copley. Brent Burns and Jesperi Kotkaniemi had early goals.
Drew Doughty and Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings, and Vladislav Gavrikov made it 5-4 with 8:36 to play. Kopitar, who is beginning his 18th season in Los Angeles, tied it with a point-blank goal in the crease off a setup from Carl Grundström.
Frederik Andersen made 25 saves in his second straight start for Carolina, which has scored 10 goals in the first two games of a season in which it has Stanley Cup aspirations after winning seven playoff rounds over the past five years.
Copley stopped 14 shots, but Los Angeles' first two games have done nothing for fans' confidence in the team's unlikely goalie tandem of 36-year-old Cam Talbot and Copley, a veteran minor leaguer.
Aho got his short-handed goal off Kevin Fiala's atrocious giveaway at the opposite blue line in the first period. Aho leads the NHL with 17 short-handed goals since he entered the league in the 2016-17 season.
The Kings trailed 3-0 before Doughty converted a cross-ice pass from Fiala for the first goal of his 16th season in Los Angeles.
After a goal from Lemieux, the feisty forward who spent parts of the past three seasons with Los Angeles before getting traded to Philadelphia last March, Carolina went ahead 5-2 on a short-handed scoring rush by Aho and Teravainen.
AILING ARVIDSSON
General manager Rob Blake told the Kings' official broadcasters that veteran forward Viktor Arvidsson likely needs back surgery. Arvidsson also had back surgery in spring 2022, but recovered and played last season.
“Looks like he may have to have surgery next week for a repair, which would take him out month to month,” Blake said. "So we had to put him on long-term (injured reserve), which allowed us to recall some players for today, but (you're) never going to replace a player like Arvi.”
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: At Ducks on Sunday.
Kings: Pierre-Luc Dubois returns to Winnipeg when LA visits the Jets on Tuesday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
