The Columbus Blue Jackets hit the midway point of their five-game road trip on Saturday when they visit the Los Angeles Kings and hope to end a three-game skid.
Columbus earned a point on Tuesday in a 2-1 overtime loss at San Jose. The Blue Jackets had a season-high 50 shots on goal but only Kirill Marchenko’s second-period attempt beat Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek.
Though frustrated by the lack of goals, Columbus coach Dean Evason said after the loss that he saw a better product than he did in the team’s prior two losses in which the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals combined to score 13 goals.
“I think that’s exactly what we’re looking for, again, to play that winning hockey style,” Evason said. “We kept the puck out of the net. Could we have, obviously, found a couple more goals? Yeah. But, if we play like that, we feel very comfortable that pucks will go in the net for us eventually.”
The Blue Jackets took Wednesday and Thursday off before resuming practice Friday. They will face a Kings squad that might be without a few of their regulars on Saturday.
With a depleted roster, Los Angeles fell at home 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Kings center Quinton Byfield scored his second goal of the season and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov notched his first in the loss.
Los Angeles center Alex Turcotte missed the game with an upper-body injury. Then, the Kings lost forward Tanner Jeannot to a match penalty midway through the first period and saw defenseman Mikey Anderson leave the game bloodied late in the second period after the puck hit him in the head.
On Friday, the league suspended Jeannot for three games for the illegal check to Canucks forward Brock Boeser.
Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said Friday that he talked with Anderson, whose 21:51 average ice time ranked second among Kings skaters, and that the team will be patient with his injury but held out hope Anderson could return for the game Saturday.
Turcotte reportedly wore a non-contact jersey on the ice Friday. The 23-year-old is tied with Anderson for third on the team with a plus-8 rating.
One thing that may help the Kings is their depth. Hiller said the team rotated eight defensemen through the first 15 games of the season.
“It’s times like these where you’re lucky you have them,” Hiller said. “They’ve all played, not consistently, (but) they’ve all played minutes. So, we think everybody’s in a position where they can come in and play at any point.”
