BOISE — Pheonix Copley might have been wearing the road white uniforms Tuesday night for a neutral-site game, but on the ice at Idaho Central Arena the Los Angeles Kings goalie felt right at home.

Earning the start in the city he’s called his offseason home the last five years, Copley stopped 22 of the 24 shots he faced, helping the Kings beat the Utah Mammoth 3-2 in a preseason game.

“It’s awesome, I never thought I’d be playing an NHL preseason game here,” said Copley. “I moved here five years ago and I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to wear the Kings jersey on the ice out there in front of a lot of friends and family and this community that I moved into that I really love.”

Copley is trying to make a push to start the season with a spot on the Kings roster, despite the odds stacked against him. Los Angeles already has Darcy Kuemper, who started 50 games with them on their roster and also signed Anton Forsberg to a two-year, $4.5 million contract in the offseason. With a full goalie room, Copley appears destined to start the season with the King’s AHL affiliate Ontario Reign.

But he certainly gave the Kings something to consider Tuesday night.

“I thought he was probably the difference in the game in the end,” said Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller, who added giving Copley Tuesday’s start was done intentionally. “He made big saves early, even though he didn’t have as much work. And then at the end they were all over us. So, I thought it was a great homecoming, I hope he had a lot of people here tonight. I don’t know how many he had, but when he gets back in the summer sometime, maybe someone will buy him a beer in an establishment.”

For most of the game, outside of a two-minute span in the second period, Copley seemed unbeatable. He stopped a breakaway by Utah’s Lawson Crouse in the first period with the Mammoth on a power play. He had a nice glove save in the early parts of the second period. Meanwhile, Andrei Kuzmenko and Andre Lee scored for the Kings, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

But Utah got its first goal 5:57 into the second period, then tied the game at 2-2 at the 7:47 mark, a momentary lapse in Copley’s otherwise stellar game. He regrouped and stopped the final 13 shots he faced, while Taylor Ward scored the game winner for Los Angeles with just under five minutes left in the game.

“I felt pretty good,” Copley said. “It was kind of a weird game where there were spots where there was a lot of work and spots where it wasn’t a lot of work. Then it’s the first game of the season for me, getting into the flow of the game and that’s always a bit of back and forth just getting the feel for it. But I felt comfortable as the game went on.”

The 33-year-old Copley has played 77 games in the NHL over parts of seven different seasons during his career. Appearing in games for the St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals and for the last three years, the Kings, he has a 44-16-8 record with a 2.84 goals-against average.

The North Pole, Alaska, native found his way to Boise during his stints with the Washington Capitals. He had two brothers who played for the Idaho Junior Steelheads, one of whom also played for Boise State’s club hockey team and they always talked highly of the area.

He got a chance to visit finally while the NHL was on its COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.

“I came out here, spent some time and I absolutely loved it,” said Copley. “It’s an awesome community and it kind of checked all the boxes. I got started looking for a house after that, found one and the rest is history.”

Copley says he’s become friends with Idaho Steelheads coach Everett Sheen and skates in his summer program, along with a few members of the Steelheads and former Steelhead players. He said that whenever his playing career is finished, being involved in the hockey community in Idaho in some form was something he was open to.

But that’s a matter for a different day. Right now, he’s focused on being ready for the upcoming season regardless of whether it’s at the NHL level, the AHL level, or a mixture of both.

“That’s up to them, I’m just trying to make a statement for myself and show I can play games at this level and win games at this level,” Copley said. “In reality, wherever I’m at, my job is to win hockey games and give the guys a chance to win. So that’s my focus, no matter what level it is. Obviously, my goal is to be playing at the highest level, so that’s what I’m working towards. But whenever I’m on the ice, I just want to win.”

The Kings play two more preseason games, another one against Utah on Thursday in Salt Lake City and a home game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday before the NHL season begins next week.