Los Angeles Kings manage 4-3 win over Columbus Blue Jackets
Jarret Stoll lit the lamp in the shootout, as the Los Angeles Kings held on for a 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets, at Nationwide Arena on Wednesday night.
Andrei Loktionov and Justin Williams each also tallied a goal for Los Angeles, who improved to 8-0-2 in their previous 10 play-offs. Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots while Drew Doughty had another goal in the win.
Los Angeles Head Coach Terry Murray praised Quick after the game by saying, "He's very good. He gets very focused on the challenge at hand. It's big for us, especially in games like this."
Rick Nash and Jakub Voracek both found the net for Columbus, who had a two-game winning streak halted, but have picked up points in 11 of their previous 14 contests (8-3-3). Mathieu Garon was peppered for three goals on 29 shots, while Kris Russell also
netted a goal in the losing effort.
Russell said of his goal after the game, "That was a big point. It would have been nice to get the win, but we battled back to send it into overtime."
The Kings opened the scoring nearly 17 minutes into the first stanza to take a 1-0 lead. The goal came when Loktionov released a shot from the left circle, which rebounded in front, but Williams was there to collect the rebound and fired a backhander into
the net.
However, Columbus knotted the game at 1-1 with one and a half minutes remaining in the opening period. Derek MacKenzie sent a cross-ice pass in the left circle for Voracek, who swiped the puck home.
Los Angeles went ahead again at 2-1 with nearly seven minutes left in the middle frame. After having several shots saved, Matt Greene controlled the puck from the end boards and slipped it to the slot, where Loktionov knocked it into the net.
However, the Blue Jackets responded once again just 69 seconds later to tie the game at 2-2 following a dump pass into the left corner. The puck luckily caromed off MacKenzie's skate and popped toward a streaking Nash, who blasted a shot past Quick from
the left slot.
The Kings were back on top at 3-2 just over six minutes into the third period. With Los Angeles working the perimeter, Michal Handzus crossed the puck to the point, where Doughty ripped a high shot past Garon's glove for his eighth goal of the season.
The Blue Jackets pulled the game even at 3-3 for the third and final time with almost one and a half minute to play in the game. The play was set up by Voracek, who banged a shot from the point. Quick saved it but a rebound trickled out in front, where Russell
was present to clean it up from in tight to send the game into overtime.
Both teams recorded just two shots in the goalless extra frame.
In the shootout, Stoll hammered a simple wrist shot into top right corner of the net to cap the scoring at 4-3, and Quick stopped Kristian Huselius' shot to preserve the win.
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