By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Rookie forward Andre Lee still recalls attending a Kings game wearing an Anze Kopitar jersey some 11 years ago, and being awed by the forward’s abilities.
It was no different for the 24-year-old Lee in making his NHL debut on Thursday night, this time wearing a Kings No. 47 jersey with his own name on the back, and being wowed by the now 37-year-old Kings captain, who scored three times in a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
“It’s crazy that I’m playing with him right now, so I mean, it’s a dream come true,” Lee said. “He’s a hell of a player and he’s like a father figure and he scored a hat trick, so just looking at that was unreal.”
Age has yet to catch up to Kopitar, who opened his 19th NHL season by scoring seventh-career hat trick, with all three goals coming in the third period.
“He gave the whole team a boost,” Lee said.
For all the questions facing the Kings opening the season after their third straight first-round playoff exit last year, and most notably having their defensive leader Drew Doughty sidelined by a broken ankle, Kopitar settled the team by delivering in the clutch.
Trailing 1-0 and being out-shot 27-11 through two periods, Kopitar converted Alex Laferriere’s feed to tie the score with a one-timer from the right circle 13 seconds into the third. He scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with another one-timer from the top of the left circle with 1:38 remaining.
And Kopitar then sealed the win with an empty-netter with 42 seconds left.
“He’s the guy that we all look up to. He’s played in so many big games, and that’s just leadership,” said goalie Darcy Kuemper, who made 33 saves in his return to the Kings after being acquired in an offseason trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to Washington.
“Things maybe aren’t going the way we want them to and he just goes out there and gets one right away and gets us back in it,” Kuemper added. “And then to get the game-winner, and then to seal it with the hat trick, that’s pretty special. He’s just an incredible player.”
As productive as Kopitar has been with 13 20-goal seasons, ranking second on the Kings’ career points list with 1,215 and fourth in goals (422), he’s also enjoyed a knack for piling up points in season openers.
His three goals on Thursday, upped his total to 12 in season openers, tied with Toronto’s Auston Matthews for second among active skaters, and one behind Alex Ovechkin. And Kopitar has now combined for 26 points in 18 season-opening games, moving two ahead of Ovechkin among active players.
Kopitar shrugged off the achievement by joking he’d like to have some of Ovechkin’s other records.
Kopitar then acknowledged how much he looks forward to opening each new season.
“It’s the excitement, obviously, for Game 1. You still get the butterflies, the excitement, the energy of the building here,” Kopitar said of the buzz even in a road building. “The crowd was very much into it, and you just kind of feed off that and create a bit of your own excitement, and away you go.”
Kings coach Jim Hiller was glad someone provided an offensive spark and wasn’t surprised to see Kopitar do so.
“We needed somebody besides the goalie, right? So the goalie was sure doing his job we needed to find somebody else who could also step up,” Hiller told LAKingsInsider after the game. “It was Kopi. It often is. It has been for a long time. he’s not going to be able to do that every night, nor is Darcy going to be able to do that every night, so we’re going to need more from some other guys.”
Alex Tuch converted his own rebound on a shorthanded breakaway with 3:05 left in the second period, and Buffalo dropped to 0-3 after opening the season with two losses to New Jersey in Prague last weekend.
Kuemper said he was feeling confident.
“I mean personally I’ve been feeling good about my game,” Kuemper told LAKingsInsider. “Every time I got in there for preseason I really like playing behind this group. They’re super predictable and make the reads pretty easy. You’ve just got to trust the boys. You know the firepower that we have in this room guys like obviously Kopi just putting the team on his back in the third. You know it’s going to come eventually. We had that belief in this room in the intermission and we went out and got the win.”
Hiller had plenty of praise for Kuemper.
“One of those nights where you’re glad you have a goaltender,” Hiller told LAKingsInsider. “That’s one of those goalie wins but a win nonetheless. He kept us in it early. He kept us in it the middle and he kept us in it late. That means it gave us a chance to stay in the game and hang around and it’s exactly what we did.”
Kopitar was equally effusive when it came to Kuemper.
“I think we gave up Darcy way too much action and world-class stops,” Kopitar told LAKingsInsider. “Yeah he definitely kept us in the game the first 40 minutes and we were able to pull one out for him.”
Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin muffing the puck at the end boards, allowing Alex Laferriere to set up Kopitar’s first goal.
26: Number of points Kopitar has in 18 season-opening games to make him the NHL’s leading active skater, and two points ahead of Alex Ovechkin, who opens the season with the Capitals on Saturday.
The Kings, on the road since Oct. 1 with preseason games in Quebec City, continue a seven-game season-opening road trip at Boston on Saturday, while the Sabres host the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday.
