Anze Kopitar joins the exclusive club with 1,300. career point

The Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar, recorded his 1,300th. NHL point in a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday. The breakthrough came five minutes into the first period, when Kopitar assisted on Trevor Moore’s seventh goal of the season, a play that began with Kopitar and Joel Armia throwing Moore down the right wing.

Kopitar’s 1,300 points consist of 446 goals and 854 assists in 1,495 regular season games, which puts him 39th on the NHL’s all-time list and 28th in assists. The Slovenian-born center is just the eighth player born outside of North America to reach the milestone, joining other elite active players such as Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin. In Kings history, Kopitar is second on the franchise’s all-time scoring list, behind Marcell Dionne by just seven (Dionne: 1,307).

Selected 11th overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Kopitar has collected at least 60 points in 16 of his 20 NHL seasons. He peaked offensively in 2017-18, posting career highs of 35 goals, 57 assists and 92 points. In the playoffs, Kopitar had 27 goals and 62 assists in 103 games, helping Los Angeles win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. He won multiple individual honors, including two Selka Trophies, three Lady Bing Trophies and the Marc Messier Leadership Award.

The Kings got off to a slow start on Thursday, as Vegas took control in the opening period. Jack Eichel opened the scoring at 8:22, capitalizing on a faceoff and beating goaltender Anton Forsberg for his 21st goal of the season. Mark Stone followed with his 21st goal at 11:49 on an assist from Ivan Barbashev, who extended his point streak to five games. Pavel Dorofeev and Mitch Marner quickly added to the Golden Knights’ lead, scoring within 20 seconds to make it 4-0. Moore’s late first-period goal, assisted by Kopitar, made it 4-1, and that score held the rest of the game.

Vegas goaltender Adin Hill made 32 saves for his 100th career win, while Forsberg stopped 18 shots for Los Angeles. The Golden Knights got to the penalty box six times, but still held the game together, while the Kings were held empty on five possessions. Having lost four of their last five games, Los Angeles will host Vegas again on February 25th.