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Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar's wife, Ines, shared an adorable couple's photo on Instagram story ahead of the Kings' matchup against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
The photo showed Anze and Ines Kopitar posing together, with Ines sporting a bright smile.
In another story, Ines shared a candid photo of Anze in his full Los Angeles Kings jersey.
However, the real highlight of Ines' Instagram stories was the footage of the couple's children, daughter Neza and son Jakob, dancing to music in the backseat of a car.
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The Kings and Oilers have a storied playoff history, with Edmonton knocking out Los Angeles in their last three postseason matchups. However, this year, the Kings will have the home-ice advantage as they look to win.
Game 1 against Edmonton is set for Monday in Los Angeles, with Game 2 following on Wednesday.
Anze Kopitar on Kings' "home-ice advantage"
Edmonton has eliminated Los Angeles in their last three playoff meetings, steadily closing out each series in fewer games.
In 2022, the Oilers battled through a full seven-game series to advance past the Kings. The next year, they wrapped things up a bit sooner, winning the series in six games. Most recently, in 2024, Edmonton completed the sweep in five games, continuing their dominance over L.A. in the postseason.
However, Kopitar believes this year will be diffferent due to the Kings having home advantage.
"Going into the playoffs I would say so because we have home-ice advantage. We feel in the locker room that we're a better team than we have been in the past," Kopitar said. (per NHL.com)
"Looking back at the past series, I think the first year we played them we were the better team and I think we should have beat them. I think everybody is pretty confident in how we're playing right now, and it feels like we're a better team than we have been in the past."
Kopitar finished this season playing 81 games, recording 46 assists and 67 points.
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