Change of Goalies Fuels Los Angeles Kings’ Surge

Good morning and happy Hump Day, January 4th.

Congrats to our readers who predicted the Sabres vs. Capitals game would have the most goals scored in yesterday's poll. With 9 goals scored total they edged out the Rangers vs. Hurricanes by one goal and the Kraken vs. Oilers by two.

The Los Angeles Kings desperately needed a fresh face in net and discovered a new difference-maker in their own backyard.

The Kings promoted 30-year-old Phoenix Copley from their American Hockey League-affiliate in Ontario, Calif. on Dec. 1. Since then, he is 9-1 with a 2.52 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. Copley made 28 saves to help the Kings defeat the Dallas Stars 3-2 Tuesday and end their four-game winning streak.

The triumph was Copley’s seventh consecutive win, making the Alaska native only the fifth goalie in Kings’ history to win that many games in a row. Jonathan Quick, Martin Jones, Robb Stauber and Kelly Hrudey are the others.

“He’s come in and he’s settled everything down, and stabilized the group,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said.

The Kings still have plenty of work to do. They are second, based on points, in the Pacific Division, but their .610 winning percentage ranks 12th in the overall league standings. Their -5 goal-differential is the worst among those 12 teams.

That speaks to how much Copley’s steadiness has helped this team for the past month. The team is +10 during Copley’s seven-game winning streak.

With an offense averaging 3.2 goals per game, the Kings could be a dark horse in the playoffs if Copley’s goaltending remains strong. Copley had previous NHL experience with the St. Louis Blues and Washington. He logged 27 games for the Capitals in 2018-19.

The Kings made the playoffs last season after a three-year absence. General manager Rob Blake wants to make sure the postseason becomes a regular habit. He has poked around the trade market, showing particularly interested in Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

TRIVIA: Who holds the NHL's all-time record for most fighting majors?

🎩 Another NHL night of multiple hat tricks! Matthew Tkachuk scored his first hat trick as a Panther (watch all 3 goals here) and added an assist in the Panthers' 5-3 defeat of the Coyotes. His 47 points are tied for 8th most in the NHL. And Tage Thompson scored his 3rd goal of the game (watch all 3 goals here) just three minutes into overtime to give the Sabres the 5-4 win over the Capitals. Thompson is only the second 30-goal scorer in the NHL this season so far, alongside Connor McDavid.

🌎 The World Junior Championship Semi Finals are today. 🇨🇿 Czechia takes on 🇸🇪 Sweden at 3:30 PM ET today. Czechia's only loss in the tournament came 3-2 in overtime against Sweden on Thursday. And 🇺🇸 United States plays 🇨🇦 Canada at 6:30 PM ET to establish North America supremacy and a chance to capture gold.

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TRIVIA ANSWER:

🥊 Tie Domi holds the NHL all-time record for most fighting majors with 333