‘Yotes Notes: Phoenix Coyotes can’t overcome 4 first period goals by Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings jumped on the Phoenix Coyotes early, scoring four first period goals Thursday at the Staples Center.

The Kings’ Anze Kopitar scored on a power play just 42 seconds into the game. Dwight King scored two of the team’s first period goals, and Dustin Brown had two assists in the first frame.

The Coyotes slowly started to mount a comeback, scoring the only two goals of the second period and then netting the first two goals of the third to tie the game at 4-4, but the Kings rattled off the last three scores of the contest — including an empty netter with 22 seconds left — as they beat Phoenix 7-4.

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett subbed out Mike Smith after he gave up four goals in the first frame. The team brought in Thomas Greiss, who fared slightly better, saving 20 of 22 shot attempts.

Phoenix fell to 6-3-2 on the season, while Los Angeles improved to 7-4-0.

THE GOOD:

After being down 4-0 after the first frame, Phoenix held firm and tied the game 4-4 less than three minutes into the third period.

Martin Hanzal scored two goals in the game and Radim Vrbata had two assists.

Shane Doan scored his second goal of the year.

Goaltender Thomas Greiss had a save percentage of 90.9. He replaced Mike Smith after the first period. Smith saved just 73.3 percent of shot attempts.

THE BAD:

The Coyotes gave up four goals in the first period and three in the third.

Los Angeles’ Dwight King recorded a hat trick after hitting a long, empty net goal with less than 22 seconds to play.

The Kings got off 10 more shots on goal (38-28) than the Coyotes did.

The Coyotes fell behind again less than a minute and a half after tying the game at 4-4.

NOTED:

– Most goals given up by Phoenix all season.

– The four goals in the first by the Kings were the most a team has scored on the Coyotes in period this season.

– The 28 shots on goal were the second lowest amount for the Coyotes this year.

– Jeff Halpern’s second-period goal was his first since April 1, 2013, when he was with Montreal.

UP NEXT:

The Coyotes have a noon (MST) matchup at Jobing.com Arena on Saturday, Oct. 26, against the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton sits dead last in the Pacific division with a record of 3-7-1. The Oilers won two out of three games against the Coyotes in 2012-13, including the only one played in Glendale. The game can be heard on Arizona Sports 620 AM.