What we learned from the Kings’ 4-3 overtime victory over Arizona

What we learned from the Kings’ 4-3 overtime victory at Arizona on Saturday:

1) Expect the unexpected

A sloppy first period, likely because both teams had been off the ice for several days because of the Christmas break, evolved into a wild third period that featured five goals and led to a brief overtime.

Anze Kopitar made the sudden-death period brief by driving to the net and waiting out goalie Louis Domingue before lifting a backhander into the open top half of the net. “He was beyond the goal mouth on the other side,” teammate Dustin Brown said of Kopitar’s feat, in near-disbelief. “Most players are a little quicker to shoot. He waits the goalie out and has an empty net.”

2) Harnessing some power

This was only the second game in 34 in which the Kings (two for six) scored more than one power-play goal in a game. The first was their sixth game of the season, when they were two for four against San Jose. Conversely, Arizona was three for seven with a man advantage, the first time the Kings allowed an opponent to score more than two power-play goals in a game.

But this game was so choppy and filled with penalties that it’s difficult to draw any kind of conclusions. Should the Kings have killed the penalties better? Maybe. But they lost center Jeff Carter to an upper-body injury early in the game and lost defenseman Jake Muzzin to a match penalty at 13:20 of the third period, so surviving and winning were more important than anything else.

“We still pulled it out. That’s good character by our team,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who played a season-high 33 minutes and 24 seconds. Through Saturday’s games his average ice time of 27:59 per game ranked third in the NHL, behind Minnesota’s Ryan Suter (28:13) and Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson (27:59).

3) Center of attention

Losing Carter for any length of time will present a challenge — and an opportunity for other players. Jordan Weal could get back into the lineup, but his small stature — he’s generously listed at 5-foot-10 and 179 pounds on the Kings’ roster — has been a reason Coach Darryl Sutter has held him out of games against brawny teams. With division games coming up at Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, Sutter might be reluctant to throw Weal in.

Trevor Lewis, a natural center who has played the wing, could go back to the middle.

4) Captain gets a call

Dustin Brown hasn’t forgotten how to score or how to be an impact player. It just seemed like it.

Sutter pretty much called him out before Saturday’s game, telling The Times, “We need Brownie to get going. It’s very simple. We’re almost halfway into our season here and I think he has to get the physical element back in his game. It’s got to be a part of his game. Not the goals and assists part. He’s got to be a consistent highly physical guy for us.”

Brown seemed to take a step forward Saturday, when he scored his third goal this season and first in 14 games. In addition, he had a team-leading six shots on goal (plus one shot that was blocked and two that missed the net) and was credited with two of the Kings’ 36 hits.

Twitter: @helenenothelen