Kings fans pay tribute to Anze Kopitar in final NHL game
Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar received a standing ovation from the fans at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown L.A. on Sunday as the time ticked down in the third period of his final NHL game.
Kopitar, 38, had previously announced that the 2025-26 NHL season would be his last, and he played his final regular-season contest with the Kings against the Calgary Flames on April 16 before embarking upon one more playoff run with the only NHL team he’s ever known.
However, Kopitar’s final postseason experience was short-lived, as the Kings fell to the Colorado Avalanche in the miminum four games in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And with the Kings trailing 5-1 late in regulation time on Sunday, the crowd of 18,145 in Los Angeles gave the future Hall of Famer a proper sendoff.
Kopitar did not record a point in four games in the 2026 playoffs. He amassed 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) in 67 games during the 2025-26 regular season.
A standing ovation for Anze Kopitar as he hit the ice in the final minutes of regulation 👑 #StanleyCup
Selected No. 11 overall by the Kings in the 2005 NHL Draft, Kopitar debuted with the club in the 2006-07 season and ultimately played the entirety of his 20-year career in Los Angeles. The 6’3″ center was the first NHL player born in Slovenia and is the Kings’ all-time leader in assists and points.
Kopitar emerged as one of the NHL’s most dominant two-way players in the early 2010s. He helped the Kings win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 and represented Slovenia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He subsequently won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward in 2016 and 2018, having previously been named a finalist twice, and was also named a finalist for the Hart Trophy in 2018.
In 1,521 career games over his two decades with the Kings, Kopitar collected 452 goals, 1,316 points, and just 358 penalty minutes (befitting his pedigree as a three-time Lady Byng Trophy winner). He added 27 goals and 89 points in 107 playoff games, although his Kings never made it past the first round of the playoffs after their 2014 Stanley Cup win.
With the Kings now eliminated from Stanley Cup contention, the Avalanche will advance to face either the Dallas Stars or the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference semifinals.