Kings lose third in a row, a 3-2 overtime decision to Coyotes

The right duo was on the ice for the Kings in the wide-open format that is three-on-three overtime.

Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik earlier dusted off their chemistry to help the Kings tie the score, and with the way Gaborik looked refreshed in his season debut Friday, it seemed destined that he and Kopitar would hook up again for the game-winning score. But Gaborik’s return came in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes that left the Kings winless in seven of eight games.

Gaborik displayed fresh legs and jump in his first game since an offseason knee procedure. He played on the fourth line, but he made a pretty assist to Kopitar on the Kings’ first goal during a delayed penalty.

“I had a little jitters, to be honest with you, before the game, and it took me a few shifts to get under my belt and I felt better and better after that,” Gaborik said. “The first few shifts I was just kind of like wondering what’s going on around me.”

Gaborik found his legs, but it so happened the Kings allowed the overtime goal to Christian Fischer when they tried to change out tired bodies. Fischer pushed in a loose puck at 2:43 in front of 12,285 fans who saw the Coyotes get their second win at Gila River Arena this season.

The Kings came back to tie it twice on goals by Kopitar and Trevor Lewis and got a strong outing from backup Darcy Kuemper, whose breakaway stop on Alex Goligoski in overtime was one of his 30 saves. Kuemper also made two big saves earlier in the game but faulted himself for the initial shot by Christian Dvorak that led to Fischer’s score.

“It’s on me to come up with some saves, and unfortunately I just couldn’t control the rebound there and they were able to walk it in,” Kuemper said. “I liked my game. I liked our team game. I thought we did a great job defensively, we just weren’t able to get that extra one to win tonight.”

One of the issues of the Kings’ slump is getting out of their zone, and it bit them late in the second period. A pass to Lewis, with no Arizona forecheck, bounced off him, and the Coyotes then grabbed possession and a 2-1 lead on Brendan Perlini’s tip of Goligoski’s shot.

Kings coach John Stevens said it doesn’t matter even if the Kings have played better during this stretch because the results aren’t there.

“I think the guys are totally invested,” Stevens said. “I mean, if it was a compete issue, I’d be really concerned. But there’s execution in certain parts of our game that clearly [has] to be a lot better.”

Stevens has options with Gaborik and Torrey Mitchell, who was not yet available for the Kings following his trade from the Montreal Canadiens. In a related move, Brooks Laich was placed on waivers. The Kings can assign him to the minors if he is not claimed as the Kings would switch out one veteran for another.

Gaborik, 35, has played nearly 1,000 games but he said the nervousness was due to so much time off.

“This year, I haven’t played for probably seven, eight months, so it was definitely [like] jumping onto a running train,” Gaborik said. “It’s not like [I played] few exhibition games or something. One quarter of the season is behind us.”

UP NEXT

VS. DUCKS

When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday

On the air: TV: FS West, Ch.13; Radio: 790, 830.

Update: Jonathan Quick will likely start for the Kings in a bid to end a personal six-game losing streak. His last win was against the Ducks on Nov. 7 at Honda Center. Ryan Miller could make his first start for the Ducks since Nov. 9 and first start against the Kings this season.

curtis.zupke@latimes.com

Twitter: @curtiszupke