Kopitar’s next step

We’ll go with a “first line” theme today, and naturally that starts with the center and the Kings’ leading scorer from last season, Anze Kopitar. Kopitar finished with career highs of 34 goals and 47 assists last season, and can he get better? A simple analysis of last season would suggest that he can.

Kopitar began last season with an astounding scoring pace, totaling 30 points in his first 19 games. That earned Kopitar some well-deserved attention, not only from national media but from opponents, and that attention — perhaps coupled with the loss of linemate Ryan Smyth to injury — coincided with a statistical tailspin, as Kopitar totaled only 12 points in his 22 games. Kopitar picked up the pace late in the season, and had two goals and three assists in six playoff games.

It’s unrealistic to think that Kopitar can maintain last season’s early-season success for an entire season, but there’s no reason to think he shouldn’t be able to rise to the 40-goal level.

“It’s hard to talk about numbers,” Kopitar said. “Obviously I had my most productive year last year, but I’ll take 20 goals and 70 points if we make the playoffs and then go far in the playoffs and crank it up there. For me, and I’ve talked about it with Brownie a few times, it’s not so much points, it’s about winning. It doesn’t matter what you do.

“Obviously it goes hand in hand, and if me and Brownie score goals, we’ll probably win a few more games, but that’s just how it is. It’s just a matter of working hard and bringing something to the table.”

Kopitar’s midseason slumber was attributed, in large part, to Smyth’s nearly six-week absence from the lineup. In the best of times, Smyth gives Kopitar room to operate in the offensive zone by drawing attention and creating traffic in front of the net. Kopitar, though, said he couldn’t identify exactly what caused his numbers to decline midseason.

“I wish I could,” Kopitar said. “If I could, I would probably do something different about it. It comes, I guess, with every athlete in whatever sport it is. You get off to a good start or you get off to a slow start, but you don’t really know why. Then as soon as you’re in a slump, you’re trying to do too much and it sometimes backfires on you.

“It’s a matter of, when you do get into a slump, just keeping it simple and just try to play as you normally would and hopefully a few bounces are going to go your way so you can get the confidence back and get back on track.”