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King’s first hat trick powers L.A. past Phoenix for wild win

dwightkinggetty

Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter changed his team’s lines after the offense went stagnant. Those alterations seemed to open everything up, as his Kings won a wild Thursday contest against the Phoenix Coyotes 7-4.

Anze Kopitar (one goal, two assists) and Dwight King (first career hat trick) helped L.A. build a 4-0 lead, but Phoenix didn’t roll over, tying things up 4-4 during a wild 13-minute span from the middle of the second to the early part of the third.

The Kings’ line shuffles kept paying off all night, however, as Mike Richards scored his first goal of the season - and game winner - less than two minutes after Shane Doan tied things up 4-4, while Matt Frattin generated a tip-in to make it 6-4. King capped it off with his hat trick goal on an empty-net to make it 7-4.

So, to summarize: the Kings built a 4-0 lead, saw it evaporate to a 4-4 tie before winning 7-4.

Yup, that’s a weird night. If Sutter muttered to himself “Can I please get some offense?” then this was a classic case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Then again, maybe he’s just onto something.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins