Kopitar is a lone bright spot

The first meeting between Luc Robitaille and Anze Kopitar became a compare-notes session in the Kings’ dressing room earlier this season.

Kopitar was already the new fellow in the hearts of Kings fans, having scored two goals in his NHL debut. Robitaille had held their attention after spending much of his 19-year career in a Kings uniform.

“You scored two goals in your first game?” Robitaille asked, after being told of Kopitar’s lack of first-night jitters. Robitaille smiled, winked and said, “I got mine on my first shift.”

This would have been a torch-passing ceremony, if the Kings had more bright moments on their resume. After 40 years of defaulting on Stanley Cup promises, the IOU has fallen to the 19-year-old Kopitar, who represents hope.

On the night Robitaille’s number was hung from the rafters, Kopitar hung another goaltender out to dry. His first-period goal Saturday was the lone memorable moment for the Kings in a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes in front of an announced capacity crowd of 18,346 at Staples Center.

An emotional pregame ceremony looking back on Robitaille’s stellar career was followed by a demonstration of Kopitar’s ample skills.

The Kings were killing a power play. Kopitar was thinking offense. He stripped the puck from the Coyotes’ Travis Roche, then made goaltender Curtis Joseph look foolish. Kopitar showed Joseph the puck, then pulled it back before tucking it into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Just more stock footage for the rookie-of-the-year campaign.

“Kopi has to win the Calder Trophy,” Kings center Craig Conroy said. “We have to get that campaign started. People in the East don’t know what he’s done. We have to make them aware.”

Kopitar has consistently been the Kings’ best player. He has 13 goals, 544 behind Robitaille’s team record, and he is second among rookies in scoring with 42 points, behind the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evegni Malkin.

Asked whether he deserves Calder Cup consideration, Kopitar just smiled and was ready with an answer reminiscent of Robitaille.

“People are starting to talk about it, but I can’t worry about that,” Kopitar said. “I just have to play and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season.”

It has been easy for teammates and Kings fans to fawn over Kopitar. But even hard-shelled coaches have a fondness for him.

“If Kopitar would have been here last year, I would still be the coach in L.A.,” St. Louis Blues Coach Andy Murray said this week.

Kopitar, who will get a chance to display his skills this week in the Young Stars game Tuesday, hasn’t let up since his opening-night splash. He is averaging more than 20 minutes a game, tops among Kings forwards, as the first-line center. He had 12 multi-point games this season before Saturday, including three assists in the Kings’ second game.

“I’m used to it,” Kopitar said. “When I was younger, I always played a lot of minutes. I was on two lines and was on the ice a lot. When I played in Sweden last year, I didn’t get those minutes and was a little disappointed. So I think this is great.”

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Kings goaltender Sean Burke left the game with an apparent injury in the third period.... Dave Taylor, director of amateur scouting and a former teammate of Robitaille’s, missed Saturday’s ceremonies because he was attending his father’s funeral.

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chris.foster@latimes.com