In Los Angeles Saturday night, the Kings relied on their special teams to take a 4-1 decision over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Kings struck for two shorthanded goals on the same penalty kill in the third period to take the Jackets out of the game.
Anze Kopitar scored the first of the shorthanded goals on a disrupted 2-on-1 breakaway
Anze Kopitar had one of two shorthanded goals in win over Columbus – file photo by Jack Lima
and then Dustin Brown converted on a penalty shot after being hooked, slashed and mugged on a breakaway of his own.
“I thought the PK was the best it’s been all year, not just because they scored but the way we got pressure on entries and not just give up the zone and allow extended zone time,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “The power play went right into attack mode, scored a big goal. There was just a mindset, a 5-on-5 working mindset that carried over to special teams, and it was encouraging to see.”
Alex Iafallo and Jeff Carter also scored for LA who improved to 4-8-1.
Jack Campbell made 26 saves to pick up the win.
Zach Werenski scored the Jackets’ lone goal.
“You’re getting every team’s best when you are a good team,” Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. “We’ve crossed that bridge now. Teams know we are a good team, so you’re getting a team’s best every time you play them. But we’re not giving teams our best, so what do we expect the result to be? We’ll do it, then we won’t do it. We’re just reactionary team right now, and it’s costing us some big points.”
Columbus is now 2-for-32 on the power play so far this year.
“It’s sucking the life out of our team,” Foligno said. “And it’s nothing (assistant coach Brad Larsen) is doing, nothing (coach John Tortorella) is doing. It’s just us. We’re not executing. You look at guys, they don’t even have the puck. You’re watching guys, they get a pass and, boom, they just whack it away. No composure.”
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Kings highlights]
Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves in the loss.
The Blue Jackets dropped to 7-6-0.
“This feels new to me only because I’ve never experienced this Jekyll and Hyde so much. One game we can play like world-beaters and the next game we can play like slobs. I don’t understand it,” Foligno said after the loss.
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