LOS ANGELES –– The Kings scored three goals in a span of 83 seconds in the third period to take control in their 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Center Anze Kopitar had two goals and an assist to pace the Kings, who won for the fifth time in their last six games. It was Kopitar’s seventh multipoint game of the season and his first since Nov. 30.

Rookie defenseman Sean Durzi had a career-high three points with a goal and two assists. Winger Dustin Brown added a goal and an assist for points Nos. 700 and 701 of his career. Winger Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Mikey Anderson each scored a goal, wingers Trevor Moore and Alex Iafallo contributed two assists apiece, and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves.

Winger Brendan Lemieux was scratched due to a non-COVID illness and Samuel Fagemo made his NHL debut in Lemieux’s place.

Defenseman Kris Letang and winger Radim Zahorna scored for a Pittsburgh team that had won 11 of its previous 12 games. Forward Jeff Carter returned to the arena for the first time since being traded last season and was honored with a first-period video tribute. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry had 39 saves.

“The response after they scored their second (goal), to come back and put those three goals together was powerful,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “It deflates the opposition quickly. Guys made good plays, confident plays.”

With 1:40 left, the Kings added an insurance goal, as an offensive-zone faceoff win set up Durzi’s goal from the blue line.

After the Kings’ third-period deluge, Quick still made one more larcenous save, snaring winger Kasperi Kapanen’s wrist shot with his glove immediately following a dangerous giveaway.

A minute and 50 seconds after Pittsburgh drew even, the Kings responded with two goals in 10 seconds and then a third 73 seconds later. Kopitar set up Anderson with a diagonal pass across most of the zone for Anderson, who hammered a slap shot for his first goal of the season.

Then Moore skated down a long pass along the boards and sent the puck across to an open Arvidsson for a redirection goal.

Lastly, Durzi moved the puck low for Iafallo, who slid it across to Kopitar for a tap-in goal.

“Momentum is real. It’s a big part of hockey; it’s a big part of sports,” Durzi said. “After they scored, I thought the response on the bench was really good … to get two in one shift was huge, feeding off that, building off that, I thought the guys responded well.”

Less than two minutes into the final period, the Penguins had tied the score. Zohorna found quiet ice between the circles and one-timed the puck between Quick’s pad and blocker.

The Kings carried a 2-1 edge and a 30-17 advantage in shots on goal into the second intermission, thanks to a power-play goal and some late-period magic from Quick, who thwarted an odd-man rush and a breakaway in the final minute.

Jarry owned much of the second period, making a number of challenging stops during 20 minutes when he saw 20 shots to Quick’s eight. Jarry stymied a short-handed Blake Lizotte breakaway and stoned Iafallo at the end of a tic-tac-toe sequence amid a power play.

During that same power play, however, the Kings earned their first lead of the night, almost 35 minutes into the game. Durzi’s shot created a rebound that Brown popped in from the side of the net. Brown has five points in four games since exiting COVID protocols.

In the opening frame, Letang, Carter and Evgeni Malkin were all in on an attack that saw Quick stick to one post on his knees to obviate a wraparound attempt. He went into scramble mode to make multiple saves on that side of the net before powering across to deny a Malkin follow-up on the opposite side.

“He made some outstanding saves,” McLellan said. “I don’t know what they had, 30 shots or 25 or whatever, but some of them were of the difficult variety, especially early.”

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Kopitar evened the score with 6:12 left in the period after the Penguins failed to exit their own zone and left a loose puck in the slot. Kopitar skated into a shot that zipped past Jarry to the near side. After scoring seven goals in 17 days in October, Kopitar scored as many goals on Thursday (two) as he scored in all of November and December combined. He still leads the Kings in assists and overall scoring.

“I saw a little relief in (Kopitar) after he scored the first one,” McLellan said. “He’s one of the best that’s played in that position, and it still shows how much pressure he puts on himself that he can be relieved after scoring a goal, he’s scored so many already.”

Pittsburgh opened the scoring at the 4:42 mark on a fluky goal. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin fired a shot that went wide and hit the end boards. Letang found the puck below the goal line and flicked it laterally, where it caromed off the bottom of Quick’s right pad and into the net.

On the benches, athletic trainer Aisha Vishram was promoted from the American Hockey League’s Ontario Reign to the Kings for the game due to Kings staff members entering COVID protocols. She became the first woman to work behind an NHL bench in any capacity.