Heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, the Columbus Blue Jackets were red hot, winning their last nine games. Tonight, at the Nationwide Arena, Columbus pushed that streak to 10 in a row after battling past the Kings in a 3-2 shootout victory.
Quiet opening frame
The Blue Jackets had some looks in the beginnings of the opening stanza to take a lead. Recently, on the powerplay, Columbus had been sizzling, scoring eight goals in their last 20 tries. Jake Muzzin went off for tripping at the 10:08 mark while Derek Forbort got sent to the penalty box at 3:15.
However, between those two penalties, the Blue Jackets’ offense struggled, as LA’s penalty kill aimed to take away every available passing and shooting lanes. In fact, Columbus managed just one shot on goal during these advantages after William Karlsson had his shot stopped by Peter Budaj.
Right after the Kings had their best chance in the first period, the Jackets came back with theirs. Columbus had a three on one advantage in their offensive zone, but whiffed at their opportunity when it mattered most with 5:55 left. Alexander Wennberg slapped had a little bit of room to shoot, although Budaj got low, quickly to thwart the attempt.
Later on in the first, Los Angeles began to grow into the game. Jeff Carter played a pass in between former Kings' defender Jack Johnson’s legs, finding Tyler Toffoli. Then, Toffoli smacked it towards goal, but Curtis McElhinney stopped the 24-year-old’s shot.
Teams exchange goals in the second
The second period ebbed and flowed, with both sides creating multiple opportunities to take the lead.
Jordan Nolan, at 16:40, pinged a wrister off the post. The Kings were dominating in the shot department and catching up on face offs. It looked as though they were going to be the team to find the first opening.
But that was not to be as it was Columbus who struck first. Brandon Dubinsky pulled Budaj to the right post before laying off a saucer pass to the other side of the net. There, a streaking Cam Anderson poked one into the empty net, giving the Blue Jackets the first goal of the game.
Then, Carter came back to haunt his old team during the Kings’ first powerplay of the night. Alec Martinez found Carter standing near the crease and promptly threaded a pass through traffic. The puck hit off of Carter’s stick, followed by McElhinney’s skate before trickling back the backup goaltender to tie things at 1-all.
Both teams score in the third
It did not take long for Columbus to regain the lead in the third period. Atkinson, with some help from deflections, beat Budaj to score the second goal of the night.
With the Kings trailing at the halfway point in the third, Drew Doughty sprinted from his on zone to the slot before firing a rocket on McElhinney’s net. There was a rebound left for Trevor Lewis, but the backup netminder did well to stop the follow up attempt.
Los Angeles’ Doughty continued to provide an offensive spark. He made a good push past the blue line again, but lost the puck. Luckily enough, though, Carter was there to pick up possession once more, before rifling an inch-perfect shot past McElhinney to tie things up once more.
Jackets win in shootout
Following a wild overtime period which saw both teams get off quality chances, the Jackets dominated the shootout. They scored their first two attempts, while the Kings could not get antyhing going -- except for Carter. In the end, Columbus won the shootout 3-1 to claim maximum points.