Kings shake off slow start to beat Blue Jackets 5-2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trevor Moore scored short-handed, Alex Laferriere got his ninth goal of the season, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Saturday night.

Los Angeles is 4-1-1 over its past six games. That is also the Kings’ mark on home ice to start the season, picking up where they left off after posting the league’s best record following the All-Star break in 2023-24.

The Kings overcame a sluggish first period, falling behind on Dmitri Voronkov’s goal, before they took charge with Vladislav Gavrikov’s shot through several screens and Warren Foegele’s finish off the rush 1:56 apart in the second.

Ivan Provorov had a power-play goal for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four straight, with three of those defeats coming in regulation. It was their first loss in five games when leading after the first period this season.

Brandt Clarke added an empty-netter in the final minute for Los Angeles, and David Rittich had 24 saves.

Takeaways

Blue Jackets: The offense has dried up for Columbus, scoring nine goals over their past five games. They had averaged 4.13 goals over their first eight games.

Kings: Samuel Helenius, a 2021 second-round pick, made his NHL debut and got his first career point with the secondary assist on Foegele’s goal.

Key moment

Laferriere tipped Joel Edmundson’s shot in at 7:05 of the third, giving Los Angeles the insurance goal it had struggled to create earlier in the year.

Key stat

After picking up three more tonight, the Kings have scored 27 goals in the third period, continuing their knack for getting going as games go on. They have scored 11 in the first and 16 in the second.