The Arizona Coyotes have registered a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings in regulation time in their historic National Hockey League (NHL) pre-season exhibition match in Melbourne.
Seven goals were scored during a high-octane second period of Saturday's encounter at Rod Laver Arena, where Logan Cooley's dancing feet were the highlight.
The top 19-year-old prospect waltzed through the Kings' defence to fire the Coyotes to a 4-1 lead with 8:20 remaining in the second period.
The advantage was quickly slashed back to one goal before Barrett Hayton completed the scoring into an empty net in the final minute.
Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram went the distance, stopping 28 shots in the process, and helped the Coyotes to another win in the practice shootout that followed regulation time.
Cooley, the third overall pick in the 2022 draft, scored the only goal of the shootout.
The Kings went 0-for-4 on powerplays and lost despite having 31 shots to Arizona's 15.
The two-game Global Series is the first NHL event ever held in the southern hemisphere.
There was no repeat on Saturday of the ice issues - puddles, ruts and uneven colouring of painted lines - which forced the cancellation of the Coyotes' practice session a day earlier.
Both teams had been scheduled to go through their paces at Rod Laver Arena, though only the Kings got the chance.
The rink, put together on top of the world-famous tennis court, presented well on Saturday with the game-time temperature at 16C.
Ingram stopped a series of shots in a scoreless first period as teammate Josh Brown and LA's Jacob Doty twice came to blows.
The Kings dominated territory for long periods but it was Arizona's Clayton Keller who opened the scoring, banging a shot in off LA goaltender Pheonix Copley from behind the goal line.
Matias Maccelli doubled the lead, exposing the shorthanded Kings after Trevor Lewis was put in the box for slashing.
But Adrian Kempe responded within a minute, putting LA on the board after taking a pass from Australian-born Jordan Spence.
The 22-year-old Spence was born in Sydney but grew up in Japan and Canada.
The scoring frenzy continued as Lawson Crouse restored the Coyotes' two-goal cushion when he capitalised on a Kings turnover with a powerful first-time shot.
Cooley added the fourth before Viktor Arvidsson and Trevor Moore pulled goals back for the Kings on counterattacks.
It looked as if neither side would add to the tally in the final period but Hayton scored into an empty net after the Kings pulled their goaltender.
The teams do battle again at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday to complete the 2023 NHL Global Series.
