Familiar face haunts Kings
Player recently traded by L.A. scores goal that gives Blue Jackets the lead for keeps.
Jack Johnson scores and Columbus ends L.A’S win streak with a 3-1 victory.
columbus, ohio — Jack Johnson spent almost five full seasons with the Kings. Yet he’s found a home in just six games with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Mark Letestu scored twice and Johnson had a goal against his former teammates to lead the Blue Jackets to their fourth straight win Thursday night, a 3-1 victory that ended the Kings’ threegame winning streak.
“This has been a really great change for me,” Johnson said after getting a goal in his second straight game.
The Kings lost a game they badly needed. They came into the contest in a tight battle for the last playoff spot in the West but were outplayed for most of the night.
“It was a disappointing start,” Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said. “You break down Columbus’ last three games and they’ve had 2-0 leads on all three teams, Phoenix twice and Colorado. That was our focus, to not get behind and to try and match their energy early. We weren’t all able to do that.”
Anze Kopitar scored a short-handed goal for the Kings. Jonathan Bernier had 33 saves.
Letestu gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead with a redirect midway through the first period, then scored on a rebound three minutes into the second period.
Johnson was acquired along with a first-round pick from the Kings in the Feb. 22 deadline deal that sent Jeff Carter to L.A. Carter was booed whenever he touched the puck. Acquired by the Blue Jackets from Philadelphia last summer, he never seemed to fit in Columbus.
“I didn’t really think about what was going to happen,” Carter said of the fans’ reaction. “I just kind of went in and played my game.”
Johnson scored with 8.5 seconds left in the opening period to break a 1-1 tie and give the Blue Jackets the lead for good.
Sutter was asked about the recent inconsistent play of Carter and former Flyers teammate Mike Richards.
“I’m not going to single any of that out,” Sutter said. “The only thing that kept us alive tonight was Jonathan Bernier and our penalty kill. Other than that, it was pretty much right across [the board].”