The Los Angeles Kings came out slow Thursday as they hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets and surrendered two first period goals.
It was a game both teams needed to win as LA and Columbus are fighting for playoff berths.
Cam Atkinson and  Seth Jones scored in the opening to frame to seemingly give the Jackets control of the game.
But the Kings reeled off five unanswered goals to defeat Columbus 5-2.
Alex Iafallo struck twice for goals.
“We stuck with it,” Iafallo said. “That’s kind of what we do over the whole course of the year, is sticking with it in the second period, and then, obviously, third period, we’ve been great. Just got to clean up the first period and make sure we’re focused every shift.”
Jonathan Quick made 30 saves to help the Kings improve to 36-24-5.
“They score a big power-play goal to get their lead and we didn’t,” the Jackets’ Nick Foligno said. “It’s going to be a special teams battle down the stretch, we knew that. And we got to find a way to make sure our penalty kill is as good as our power play, and vice versa.”
The Kings were 1-for-2 on the power play and Columbus was scoreless in three chances.
“We lost our composure and didn’t fully get it back consistently enough,” Columbus head coach John Tortorella said.
Nate Thompson, Tanner Pearson and Jeff Carter added single markers for the Kings in the win.
[WATCH:Â All Blue Jackets vs. Kings highlights]
Joonas Korpisalo made 29 saves in taking the loss.
“Once they took over, I don’t know what it was, but we weren’t getting enough shots and it seemed like we were playing a little hesitant and more in the defensive end,” Atkinson said after the loss.
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