He's playing with a pace and urgency we've never seen from him to this point in his career.
It wasn't the perfect outcome for Anze Kopitar on the night he broke the Los Angeles Kings' all-time games played record as the team fell 4-2 to the Boston Bruins.
This wasn't a game where the Kings were outplayed but they lacked the Bruin's finishing touch.
The Kings outshot and out-chanced the Bruins but didn't get the puck luck on a few occasions and failed to be ruthless when the chances came.
Despite the loss, it was a strong performance from the Kings and one they shouldn't be too upset over.
"Yeah, I mean, in the 82 games there's some that we're going to win and we'll come back in here and laugh and think that we shouldn't have won it and then there's some like tonight that could have gone either way," said Pierre-Luc Dubois postgame.
The Bruins took the lead in the first off a David Pastrnak power-play goal and held onto the lead through one.
Alex Laferriere then grabbed the first goal of his career to get the Kings back into the game early in the second. Despite a strong push after the Laferriere goal, the Kings gave Boston the lead back late in the period.
First, Morgan Geekie buried a Derek Forbot rebound after the Kings got caught out on a long shift. Then, Brad Marchand's shot was deflected off Kopitar and in to put the Bruins up two.
In the third, the Kings pushed hard but couldn't solve Jeremy Swayman and late in the game, Marchand grabbed his second after a blown coverage left him open in front.
Carl Grundstrom did register his third goal of the season on a power play with a minute and a half to go, but it mean little in the grand scheme of things.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday's game:
Kopitar Makes History:
It's impossible to discuss this game without mentioning Kopitar's achievement. His 1,297 games played for the Kings take him above former teammate Dustin Brown as he continues to cement himself as an all-time Kings legend.
It was a tough game for Kopitar who finished with zero points and a -3. That plus the loss makes it difficult for him to celebrate the achievement and it will take a day or two for it to set in according to Kopitar.
"It might take a little more than just one night to set in," said Kopitar. "Obviously, it's a great accomplishment and I guess it's a little bittersweet, You know, taking it from my very good buddy, and yes, he did call me old, and I will somewhat agree with him."
Kopitar was also given a surprise with his son coming in and reading off the starting lineup and his dad coming in from Slovenia.
"It's great, my wife surprised me with my dad flying in, my mom couldn't make it, life just got in the way I guess, but she was here a couple weeks ago," said Kopitar. "But she was here a couple weeks ago so that was cool. Jakub came in and did the starting lineup and it was very cool to see. Yeah, the game itself, not the outcome I, or we, wanted."
Alex Laferriere Gets His First:
Laferriere has been lauded for strong play early in his NHL career and was finally rewarded with a goal Saturday night.
After a nice breakout pass from Kevin Fiala to Dubois, Dubois hit Laferriere streaking through the middle before he finished on the partial breakaway.
It was a great goal all around from Laferriere. He picked the puck up with speed and widened his stance to block Brandon Carlo from getting to the puck, before firing the puck past Swayman and in.
"Yeah, it was just an unbelievable play from my linemates," said Laferriere. "Kevin made a great pass to PL, and PL found me right up the middle, and I got a bounce, it went post and in. Felt a little relieving, but definitely a good play by them."
Obviously, it's always great to see a teammate get their first career goal, and Dubois was certainly excited post-game to see his linemate rewarded for his solid play.
"Just seeing him score, that was great," said Dubois, "The shift before, he thought he had a goal and the guy blocked it. He's been getting a lot of chances, you know, good players get a lot of chances and the goals will come. He's been playing really well since the start of the year, hasn't scored, but if you look at the games, he's playing well. For him to get that tonight, big goal, tying goal for us, that was huge. He's a good kid, he's fun to be around. So, to see him score that first goal, see that smile, that was great to see."
It was likely the first of many for Laferriere who's impressed early in his career.
Arthur Kaliyev With Another Strong Performance:
He didn't get on the board Saturday, but to my eye test, Arthur Kaliyev was one of the Kings' best players on Saturday.
Todd McLellan had a lot of positive things to say about Kaliyev in preseason and he's translating that into good play early on.
Obviously, the increased foot speed stands out right away. For Kaliyev to keep pace with Phil Danault and Trevor Moore is an impressive feat given where he was at after his injury last season.
But more than his physical speed, it's his speed of thought that stands out right now. He's making plays quickly with one-touch passes and quick shots.
He's playing with a pace and urgency we've never seen from him to this point in his career.
If Kaliyev can keep up this level of play, the points will continue to flow and we could be looking at a true breakout season for the young forward.