I counted three Brown hits in his first shift. That's the sign of Dustin trying to fire up his club.

Stuart gets tripped by Peca, putting the Kings back on the PP. Nagy wins his fourth faceoff of the game, but the Kings can't hold it in. It seems the Blue Jackets play in the nuetral zone has stymied the Kings, as they can't skate in. Brown had a beautiful chance, when he directed an O'Sullivan pass into Norrena's pads. But he stops it, and the BJs kill the penalty.

O'Sullivan skates with the puck, and heads behind the net. The puck gets hit by a Blue Jacket, and the puck bounces up off the top of the goal. The puck winds up on Sully's stick, as he knocks it in unassisted for an amazing goal. The goal is reviewed, but it stands. One of the most amazing goals I've witnessed live.

The game is tied as the Kings suddenly have a second wind. They have outshot the the Blue Jackets thus far, and have shown signs of getting faster. But the Blue Jackets are looking feisty. They are putting the wood on every dark jersey they see.

Johnson almost turns it over deep in the Kings zone, but LaBarbera picks it up and sends it right back out to Jack. He feeds it to Armstrong immediately, and the Kings catch the Blue Jackets in a line change. Nagy skates it in and almost gets a clear backhand, but Norrena covers it up.

Columbus scores their fourth, as Peca scores his second of the game. And now the Jackets seem content with playing keep away from the Kings. The LAD line comes out with 3 minutes left, but fail to get anything started. Brown lines up one BJ in the corner, and almost hammers another, but wisely sidesteps away.

The Kings pull LaBarbera from the net, then Peca gets whistled for hitting the puck over the glass. So now, the Kings have a two-man advantage. After an exciting exchange, the Kings fail to put the biscuit in the basket. Columbus outlast the Kings in a hard-fought battle.

Third period: Blue Jackets 4, Kings 3

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The Kings tie the game in the first 13 seconds, when Willsie scores a nice deflection from Blake's shot from the point. I was in the bathroom when I heard the screeching horn, the second time that's happened the past week.

But the Jackets come right back, when Lindstrom pops one over Aubin's shoulder to put Columbus back on top. Fedorov gets the assist. It quickly quiets the half-filled arena, who were just screaming their heads off for Willsie.

The goals are coming once a minute now, as O'Sullivan backhands one toward Norrena, and Brown smacks it under the pads for his 20th goal of the season. O'Sullivan is so fluid, skating out of the corner and throwing it on net. Kopitar gets credit for the second assist.

Willsie gets called for a penalty, and Columbus' 24th-ranked power play unit takes to the ice. The Kings have the third-worst PK unit, so there's something for the Jackets.

Columbus goes back on top, when Peca scores on Columbus fourth shot of the period. Aubin is replaced by LaBarbera, after letting in 3 goals on 15 shots. Apparently Crawford has seen all he needs to see for tonight, as the book closes for Aubin.

Ivanans has a teeth-rattling open ice hit on Chimera that sends ohhs and ahhs throughout the arena. Chimera comes up with his helmet all-cockeyed, and another Jacket comes to his defense. The organ plays music that sounds like the Kings will get a penalty, but it was clean as a whistle. And that whistling is coming from the gaping, bloody hole Ivanans left in Chimera's head.

Kings get a power play when Hejda gets whistled for hooking, but the Jackets manage to get it in the Kings Zone. After trying to cycle it out, Nash comes up and trips LaBarbera in the crease, illiciting some complaints from Kings fans. But play goes on.

Blake and Hainsey exchange diet tips, as Blake tries to smack home a loose puck, and the scuffle stops play and kills the Kings power play. That's the third PP tonight the Kings have missed on. Blake has picked up his game as of late, looking like he's at 100 percent. Which is good, because being paired with Johnson, he's the perfect compliment.

Brown just hammers Hejda with a trademark BrownTown hit. It was so nice, they showed it twice, and it got an equal response the second time.

The Kings kill a late Nagy penalty, and head to the locker room down by one goal. The Kings only muster 6 shots on goal, but showed signs of coming to life after the Ivanans hit. Brown tallied 5 hits in the second,

Posted by Matt Murray at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Kings are riding a three-game win streak, their second of the season. The last one happened over two months ago. The last game against the Blackhawks left the team with a little breath of fresh air. The Hawks really didn't have their A-game in goal, as Khabibulin and Lalime must have had a nice New Year's Eve.

The LAD line of Ladislav Nagy, Alexander Frolov and Derek Armstrong had a stellar game against Chicago, with ten points between them. Lost in the excitement of the Kings' first hat trick since 2006 by Nagy, Frolov scored his 100th goal as a King. Dustin Brown also added a goal and an assist on the night.

LaBarbera is getting the night off, as Aubin starts in goal, opposite Columbus' Norrena. LeClaire played last night against the Ducks, in a 2-1 loss.

Three minutes in, and both teams haven't tallied a shot, but Modry gets the gate for hooking. L.A. is easily able to kill the penalty.

Westcott gets two for holding (more like clotheslining) Nagy, as the NHL's fourth best PP takes to the ice. Brown, Kopitar and O'Sullivan are paired once again, with Visnovsky and Blake on the blueline. Calder replaces Armstrong between Frolov and Nagy. L.A. gets some solid chances, but come up empty. The beautiful thing is L.A. has the second most power play opportunities, right behind Carolina. And it's the DAM line of Brown, Kopitar and Cammalleri leading the team in PP points.

Fedorov scores to put the Blue Jackets up, on a one-timer from Lindstrom. The shot was right in the slot, as it slid under Aubin for Federov's seventh of the season.

The Kings go on the PP when Malhotra gets called for hooking. But there's nothing there for the Kings to capitalize on.

I'm a big No Doubt fan, but I'm a little tired of hearing that B-A-N-A-N-A-S song they start to play, with the drum crops and deep base line. For some reason, it just doesn't fit for hockey. I'm sure it's cool for the Lakers or at USC games. But, it just has a whole "You-Got-Served" feel that makes me want to skip it on my iTunes.

Nagy joins Brown and Kopitar as time expires, and they get some opportunities.

First period: Blue Jackets 1, Kings 0

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