The Blue Jackets showed the Kings what a really good team plays like tonight. They were strong. That said, the Kings played well the second half of the game. LeClaire was just too good to let them back in.

Crawford said the difference was the third line of Malhotra, Chimera and Fritsche outplaying Calder, Handzus and Willsie, or any other combination he tried.

The Kings remain tied for second place in the division with Dallas, two points behind San Jose, with back-to-back games against the Sharks coming Friday in San Jose and Saturday in Los Angeles.

Ladislav Nagy, who assisted on Calder’s goal, has six points in the last five games since returning from his benching.

The last home game with worse attendance for the Kings was 9,686 on March 4, 1999, at the Forum.