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Kopitar scores on penalty shot in Las Vegas

Sep 27, 2009 - 4:37 AM LAS VEGAS(AP) -- Anze Kopitar scored on a penalty shot in the third period to help the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 on Saturday night in front of 11,263 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the 12th annual Frozen Fury exhibition.

Kopitar's penalty shot followed a controversial ruling in which the referees penalized the Avalanche for covering the puck during a pileup in front of goalie Craig Anderson. With just 6:35 remaining in the game, Kopitar buried the penalty shot with a backhander through Anderson's legs to put the Kings up 4-3.

"I just tried to stay calm," said Kopitar, who scored the tying goal in the second period. "I kind of envisioned in my head what I was going to do. I just got in there and fortunately it worked out for me."

Los Angeles improved to 9-2-2 in the Frozen Fury.

Alexander Frolov, Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds, into an empty net with a second left, also scored for Los Angeles (4-2-1). Darcy Tucker scored twice for Colorado (3-3-0) and Wojtek Wolski added a goal.

The Avalanche opened the scoring when Wolski tapped in a feed from Matt Duchene midway through the first period. Los Angeles answered when Frolov redirected Jack Johnson's slap shot to tie it with 1:22 remaining in the first period.

The Avalanche quickly jumped out to a 3-1 lead on Tucker's second-period goals. Tucker scored at 2:30 and 7:40.

"We didn't play that bad, but (Colorado) capitalized on the mistakes we made in the second period," Kopitar said. "It's always problem when you are playing pretty good but not getting the results."

Doughty scored on a 4-on-4 with 9:31 remaining in the second period.

Less than 4 minutes later, Kopitar poked in a loose rebound to tie it at 3.

"It's a preseason game that's got the feel of a regular season game," Kopitar said. "It's a sellout crowd and just a great atmosphere. I think all the fans get pumped for this game and luckily we gave them a good show."