Five players scored for the Los Angeles Kings as the hosts won for the third time in four games, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Saturday.
In all, 11 players recorded a point for the Kings, with Warren Foegele notching a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe collecting a pair of assists apiece.
Columbus jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Dmitri Voronkov’s goal with 6:34 left in the opening period. The second-year pro, who scored 34 points in 75 games last season, notched his first point of the season, redirecting Justin Danforth’s centering pass past Kings goalie David Rittich (24 saves).
The Kings, though, took over in the second period, scoring twice in a two-minute span.
Vladislav Gavrikov tied it against his former team with a snap shot through traffic 4:16 into the second. The defenseman’s second of the season and second in as many games came off assists by Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar.
Foegele gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 6:12 of the second as the hosts cashed in on a turnover in the neutral zone. Akil Thomas and Samuel Helenius earned their first assists of the season on the winger’s sixth goal of the campaign.
Trevor Moore’s short-handed goal just 30 seconds into the third, his second tally of the season, extended the Kings’ lead to 3-1. Columbus responded with Ivan Provorov’s first goal of the season 19 seconds later on the power play.
That was as close as the Blue Jackets would get as they lost their fourth straight (0-3-1).
Alex Laferriere’s ninth goal of the season came with 12:55 remaining as he deflected Joel Edmundson’s shot past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins (18 saves). Foegele earned the secondary assist.
Kempe and Kopitar earned their second assists on Brandt Clarke’s empty-netter power-play goal with 31 seconds left.
Helenius made his NHL debut Saturday, receiving a promotion from the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, after Los Angeles placed Alex Turcotte on injured reserve.
Earlier Saturday, the NHL suspended Tanner Jeannot for three games after the forward received a match penalty in the Kings’ loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
