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Kopitar's second goal in OT caps Kings' stunning comeback win

Nov 11, 2007 - 7:49 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- It was not exactly another "Miracle on Manchester" for the Los Angeles Kings, but it was close enough.

Ladislav Nagy capped the fastest five-goal outburst in franchise history late in the third period and Anze Kopitar scored his second tally of the game 2:34 into overtime as the Kings rallied for a shocking 6-5 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

The comeback was reminiscent of Los Angeles' miraculous performance in Game Three of the 1982 Smythe Division semifinals against Edmonton, when the Kings erased a 5-0 deficit in the third period before winning in overtime.

Trailing, 4-0, with less than half the third period remaining in this one, Los Angeles scored five times in a span of 5 minutes, 7 seconds, eclipsing the previous club record of 5:37 set at Hartford on November 2, 1985.

"We lost the momentum and couldn't get it back," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "This is a hard lesson to learn, but we have to recognize what wins games and what loses them. Maybe we need a lesson like this, from the goalie on out, to make it sink in."

"It's the biggest comeback I've ever been involved with, either way," Kopitar said. "We just kept coming on every shift."

Dustin Brown began the comeback with a power-play goal at 12:46, grabbing the puck in the crease after goaltender Marty Turco made a save on defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky's shot and putting it into the net for his seventh of the season.

"This is right there, next to rock bottom," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said of his team's collapse. "It's tough to explain. We panicked when they scored their first goal. It's really ugly to spend 40 minutes building a lead and then panic after one lucky bounce."

Scott Thornton scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle with 5:59 left to draw the Kings within 4-2, and Alexander Frolov had a slap shot from the right point deflect off his right skate and past Turco at 15:35 to make it a one-goal game.

"Give the players all the credit, they just kept coming with effort," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "As soon as we got the third goal, I knew we were going to keep going. This kind of game could be a turning point for our entire season."

Kopitar forged a tie 24 seconds later, converting Visnovsky's cross-slot pass from the left side of the net for his sixth tally, and Nagy put the Kings ahead with 2:07 left in the third, deflecting blue-liner Brad Stuart's slap shot from the left point by Turco during a man advantage with his stick just below the crossbar.

"I think the whole third period was brutal," Turco said. "People keep talking about a lesson, but I just think it was embarrassing. Other than embarrassing, it's a total lack of respect for each other. We're too good of a team for that to happen to us."

Mike Modano calmed down the frantic crowd with 65 seconds remaining, however, beating netminder Jean-Sebastien Aubin with a blast from above the slot for a power-play goal, tying the game at 5-5.

Aubin started the third period in place of Jason LaBarbera, who yielded four goals on 21 shots over two sessions.

But midway through overtime, Kopitar came off the left wing boards and through the faceoff circle before putting a backhander between Turco's pads to cap the bizarre evening.

"When I got the puck, I just went to the net," Kopitar said. "I didn't even look at the goal or Turco. I let it go and it found a hole."

Morrow opened the scoring with 3:33 remaining in the first period, blasting a shot past LaBarbera from the low slot during a power play for his third goal in four games.

Mike Ribeiro doubled the lead just over two minutes later, beating LaBarbera with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle at 18:48 for his seventh tally of the season.

Rookie Chris Conner pushed the advantage to 3-0 midway through the second, burying a rebound in front, and Jeff Halpern ripped a one-timer past LaBarbera with 2:12 left in the session for a four-goal cushion.

"I really don't think we played badly through the first two periods," Crawford said. "Dallas got a couple of breaks and we were down big."

Frolov and Visnovsky each had two assists for the Kings, who have won six of their last eight games.

Turco made 28 saves and defensemen Sergei Zubov and Stephane Robidas each set up a pair of tallies for Dallas, which has lost five of seven and had its string of consecutive wins when owning a two-goal lead halted at 34.