SAN JOSE -- Anze Kopitar of the Kings is leading the league in scoring and his linemate, Ryan Smyth, isn't far behind him, picking up loads of assists by getting Kopitar the puck."Kopitar and Ryan Smyth are as good a pair as there is in the league," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said before his team beat the Kings in overtime on Wednesday night.
It's a combo of experience, with the 33-year-old Smyth, and youth, with the 22-year-old Kopitar. And it worked "from the get-go," according to Smyth. Los Angeles coach Terry Murray placed the two on the same line pretty much from the start of training camp and things clicked.
"I don't think we had a choice but to click," Kopitar said with a grin. "We practice together and all the time we're joking around. That's part of the chemistry."
"It was just a matter of time for Kopitar to break out. ... He's a great player, big, great size, he skates well and obviously he can score goals."
-- Dany Heatley on Anze Kopitar"Sometimes it takes awhile to gel, but fortunately, this developed right out of the gate," Smyth said. "When they gave us the opportunity to play together, we wanted to roll with it. Obviously, it's worked well so far. The biggest thing is communication and Kopi is always open to talking about things. And he's a big, strong, young, fast player who sees the ice very well. He plays both ends great and his offensive production is tremendous.
"It's a lot of fun, but there's always room for improvement, and Kopi wants to be the best player on the ice, and if not, I want to be. We push each other in that way."
After being traded twice in two years, from his longtime Edmonton team to the Islanders and then from Colorado to the Kings, Smyth looks right at home in Los Angeles. He went from a last-place Avalanche club to near the top of the league -- and Colorado also is thriving, in first place in the conference with Kyle Quincey, obtained for Smyth, proving to be a primary contributor.
"It's unfortunate how things turned out in Colorado," said Smyth, who signed there as a free agent before the 2007-2008 season.
Kopitar, meanwhile, has 21 points and looks as if he's about to step into the ranks of the game's young superstars. He's been pegged for big things since he came into the league three years ago, and Sharks forward Dany Heatley, himself a two-time 50-goal scorer said, "It was just a matter of time for Kopitar to break out -- and he's put up some good numbers in the past., but he's definitely got off to a great start. He's a great player, big, great size, he skates well and obviously he can score goals."
The Kings are tied with the Sharks atop the Pacific Division, but Kopitar, Smyth and Murray all cautioned that as well as things are going, it's early still for a team that has failed to make the playoffs in six consecutive tries.
Murray is showing a firm hand at the helm, benching Alexander Frolov 10 days ago and expressing frustration that despite repeated meetings with the Russian forward, "nothing ever comes back."
"It's one thing if it's a fourth-line player (who gets benched) but with a good player, you give them less time on the ice, less time on special teams, but this was a concentration issue as far as I was concerned, right from the beginning of the season. That focus had to get a lot better. Touch wood, he's come back and done that and it will stay that way."
The Kings have played with confidence since the season's start, according to McLellan, whose team fell 6-4 to Los Angeles in the first week. And the entire L.A. team appears focused now that Frolov is on board.
"We're tired of not making the playoffs," Kopitar said. "Everyone made up their minds to come here ready to go and everyone was talking about this being our breakthrough year. So far, it's going good. If we're in this position at the end of the season, we'll be very happy."
