EDMONTON, Alberta _ Everyone wanted a piece of Anze Kopitar. And this was before the game.
Kopitar was much sought after when the Los Angles Kings were about to end a four-game trip Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers. He held court with a throng of reporters before a nationally televised game in Canada. It was the encore to his four-goal masterpiece in what has turned into a statement season for the Hart Trophy, and it was against Connor McDavid.
But McDavid got the last word with two goals, to take over the NHL's scoring lead, in a 3-2 win at Rogers Place that knocked the Kings out of a playoff spot because the Oilers have played one more game than the Anaheim Ducks.
The Oilers didn't need convincing of Kopitar's Hart worthiness, though.
"I think, in my eyes, he's (among the) top five players in the world," said Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl, who played with Kopitar for Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
"I think he does it all. He's so valuable. He defends, takes faceoffs. He's good on the penalty kill, power play. He's just a complete player. There's so much stuff you can learn from a player like him. I've been looking up to him for a while now."
The Hart Trophy is awarded to the player most valuable to his team. Kopitar has accounted for 38 percent of his team's goals, which was tied with McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers for best in the NHL last week. But it's Kopitar's defensive work that awes, because he faces top players every game.
"There's no such thing as shutting him down," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "While we're trying to shut him down, he's doing the same thing to us. ... In my opinion, this is as good a year as he's had."
This week represented a murderer's row of matchups for Kopitar and the Kings with McDavid, MacKinnon and Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets. Kopitar rendered MacKinnon irrelevant with his four-goal game Thursday.
He recorded five points in the first three games against Edmonton this season and embraces games against McDavid.
"I've played against Connor a few times now," Kopitar said. "It's always fun to play in these types of games. Not so much fun chasing him around the ice, but we've got to make sure we're ready for his speed and everybody else's speed and at the same time, make sure that we're ready to go."
Going into Saturday, McDavid had nine points in 11 games against the Kings. One of those was a standout goal at Staples Center on Feb. 7. Drew Doughty loves going up against McDavid, and he joked about getting McDavid off his game.
"It's mostly just me talking, or him telling me to shut up or 'You're the best, Dewey,'" Doughty said. "He has little jabs like that. But it's me constantly going at him, telling him he's scared to go at me, really just making stuff up. None of it's true. Yeah, I love chirping at him."
