When the Los Angeles Kings go to Columbus, Ohio, in October, the plan is simple: Fly in, win 7-1, leave.
Tyler Wright made sure that wouldn’t happen this time.
He scored two of his three goals in the third period Sunday, leading the Blue Jackets to a 5-1 victory. The Kings had won 7-1 each of the last two years in October.
“L.A. has given us a couple of beatings in the past,” Blue Jackets forward Geoff Sanderson said. “So we knew that if we played another game like that, they would give us another beating.”
Sanderson didn’t have to worry.
The Blue Jackets jumped ahead 2-0 after the second period. Columbus then scored three times after Adam Deadmarsh put the Kings on the board with just more than 11 minutes to play.
Kings coach Andy Murray said the Blue Jackets just played harder.
“I had the opportunity to watch a little bit of their practice [Saturday] and their level of determination was really high,” Murray said. “We also had a great practice [Saturday], but somewhere between then and the start of the hockey game we lost that level of determination.”
These were Wright’s first goals of the season. He completed his hat trick–the second of his career–with 28.1 seconds left.
His last goal extended Columbus’ club-record streak of eight games in a row with a power-play goal.
RESULTS: San Jose 2 at Blackhawks 3, SUNDAY’S SYNOPSIS: Sergei Berezin scored twice on power plays and Jocelyn Thibault stopped 34 shots.
RESULTS: Los Angeles 1 at Columbus 5, SUNDAY’S SYNOPSIS: Blue Jackets goaltender Marc Denis had 24 saves, handing the Kings their first road loss.
RESULTS: Minnesota 3 at Colorado 3, SUNDAY’S SYNOPSIS: Eric Messier had the first two-goal game of his career, helping the Avalanche to the tie.
