Blue Jackets Suffer Fourth Straight Loss 5-2 to Kings – Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets were hoping that coming off a three-day rest would be a catalyst for positive things on their trip to California. Saturday night didn’t go according to plan.

Amakhosi scored points from 11 different players en route to defeating the Blue Jackets 5-2. Goalkeeper David Rittich scored key goals early in the game to allow Amakhosi to take the lead in the second half. They never looked back.

Recap of the game

The Blue Jackets had the jump as expected to start the game due to their days off in the Los Angeles area. They were able to show that in the lead after the first thanks to Dmitry Voronkov.

Justin Danforth drove to the wing and Voronkov drove to the net. The pass was perfect and Voronkov made no mistake. It was his first goal of the season. That on top of killing two games for the Kings gave them momentum going into the locker room after 20 minutes.

But when the second half just started, Amakhosi once again caused a stir. 4:16 into the second, Blue Jacket Vladislav Gavrikov tied the game. His shot bounced off the bar and into the crowd. There wasn’t much Elvis Merzlikins could do about that.

Then 1:56 later, another turnover led to Warren Foegele giving the Kings a 2-1 lead. He was the recipient of a great pass from Akil Thomas. The Blue Jackets needed a spark. They turned into a familiar face to find out.

Mathieu Olivier dropped the gloves with Andreas Englund of the Kings. Olivier won this battle which was the first battle of the Blue Jackets this season. When the game was a little bit even, the Blue Jackets didn’t get what they were looking for.

Starting the third with a strong play, it was Trevor Moore who scored just 30 seconds into the 3-1 Kings. Ivan Provorov responded with his first of the season to make it 3-2.

But Alex Laferriere scored in the ninth and Brandt Clarke closed it with an empty netter to make the final score 5-2. Merzlikins stopped 18 of 22 shots he faced. Rittich stopped 24 of 26.

The Blue Jackets dropped to 5-6-2 and have a quick turnaround as they play the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Kings play in Calgary on Monday night.