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Olympic carryover? Kings rally back, beat Avs 6-4

NHL: Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings

Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar (11) reacts after he scored the winning goal past Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov (1) in the shootout at Staples Center. The Kings won 3-2 in a shootout. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

© USA Today Sports / Reuters

For all that’s been said about how NHL teams have lost out on sending players to the Olympics, people usually don’t give much thought to teams turning their fortunes around following a change of scenery. One game doesn’t tell the whole story, yet it’s possible that the Los Angeles Kings might carry momentum over from some strong Sochi performances.

After falling behind 4-2 with less than five minutes left in the second period, the Kings really turned things around against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, scoring four unanswered goals for a 6-4 win.

Those six goals equal the Kings’ output from their last seven games heading into the Olympic break.

Anze Kopitar starred for the otherwise star-less Slovenians in Sochi, and he carried his success over tonight, scoring two of those four late Los Angeles goals, including the power-play game-winner in the third period. He also had an assist in the contest.

Here’s video of Kopitar’s game-winner:

The Kings now have two straight wins after beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in OT heading into the Olympic break. They had only won two of their last 11 games heading into Wednesday, so the clear hope is that the strong runs by Kopitar, Drew Doughty & Co. will end up being signs of better things to come.

(Jonathan Quick received the night off, as Martin Jones notched the win.)

The Avalanche find themselves in a minor funk - at least if you carry over results from before the break - as they’ve now lost three of four games. They play six of their next eight contests in Colorado, so there’s a lot of incentive to avoid a lull following the break.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins