Kings skate to an easy victory
For the second straight game, the Kings rode a four-goal second period to a comfortable victory, thrashing the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 at Crypto. Com Arena on Thursday night.
They moved within a point of the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division after former Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and his new team, Vegas, were walloped 7-2 by the Calgary Flames. Third-place Edmonton won on Thursday to stay five points behind the Kings.
Winger Viktor Arvidsson, defenseman Drew Doughty, winger Carl Grundstrom and center Anze Kopitar all scored for the Kings, with Grundstrom adding an assist. All four goals came at even strength. Pheonix Copley made 30 saves.
Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo both played their entire careers in Columbus
LOS ANGELES >>
THE SCORE
KINGS 4, BLUE JACKETS 1
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Canucks at Kings, Saturday, 7 p.m., BSW
prior to the Feb. 28 trade that made them Kings and sent Quick, ultimately, to Vegas. Korpisalo backed up Thursday while Gavrikov logged over 21 minutes.
Winger Kirill Marchenko scored the lone goal for Columbus. Daniil Tarasov and Michael Hutchinson shared the burden in net; Tarasov stopped 23 of 27 shots before Hutchinson turned away all nine shots he faced.
Much of the final period could have been played with a running clock, though the Blue Jackets saved some face early. Columbus ruined Copley’s shutout 4:31 into the third period when the rookie
Marchenko’s shot from the slot turned into his 17th goal of the season.
The Kings cemented their victory with two goals that came with 7:24 and 6:12 left in the second period.
During an evening in which the Kings played a methodical team game, two of their goals came from remarkable individual efforts, including Grundstrom’s unassisted tally, his eighth of 2022-23.
Grundstrom was barely supported by one teammate while being defended by five opponents as he bounced off several checks below the goal line before rifling the puck home.
Just 72 seconds earlier, Moore’s pass from one faceoff dot to the other set up an Arvidsson onetimer that left him a goal shy of 20 for the season.