Already a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and Kings legend, Kopitar grabs another franchise record and continues cementing himself as maybe the greatest King in history.
A few times a season there's a game where the score and final outcome take a back seat to the story surrounding it. On Saturday, that's the case for the Los Angeles Kings.
That isn't to say that the Kings will take the Boston Bruins lightly or that they won't be at 100%, they will.
But more important than the game itself is Anze Kopitar breaking the franchise's all-time games played record.
After tying Dustin Brown's record of 1,296 games played Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, Kopitar suits up for his 1,297th game for the Kings on Saturday.
Already a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and Kings legend, Kopitar grabs another franchise record and continues cementing himself as maybe the greatest King in history.
No one has led the franchise in scoring more times than Kopitar, he will soon pass Marcel Dionne in assists and has a good chance of taking over Dionne for total points.
By the time he retires, Luc Robataille's goal record is the only one he won't catch, but one thing is sure, number 11 will hang in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena.
Switching focus a bit to the game, the Bruins come into Los Angeles 3-0-0 and a great team once again.
Like last season, many assumed the Bruins would finally have a down year after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired.
Instead, led by number-one center Pavel Zacha, the B's continue to win hockey games.
It is that lack of center depth, on paper, that the Kings will have to take advantage of.
Kopitar, Phil Danault and Pierre-Luc Dubois should find success against Zacha, Matthew Poitras and Charlie Coyle opposite them.
But it's one thing to be better on paper and another to execute on the ice.
The Kings come off two strong wins, burying 12 goals in the two games as their forward group begins to gel.
Cam Talbot will get his third straight start on Saturday after back-to-back strong games on the Kings' short road trip.
Here are the Kings' expected lines:
Forwards:
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Alex Laferriere
Trevor Moore - Phil Danault - Arthur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom - Blake Lizotte - Trevor Lewis
Defense:
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Goalies:
Cam Talbot
Pheonix Copley
Boston Bruins Expected Lines:
Forwards:
Jake DeBrusk - Pavel Zacha - David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand - Matthew Poitras - Morgan Geekie
James Van Riemsdyk - Charlie Coyle - Trent Frederic
Milan Lucic - John Beecher - Jakub Lauko
Defense:
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Hampus Lindholm - Brandon Carlo
Derek Forbort - Kevin Shattenkirk
Goalies:
Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark