Los Angeles Kings at Columbus Blue Jackets
Tuesday, December 5, 2023 – 7:00 PM ET
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally’s Sports Ohio – Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s Blog: Jewels From The Crown
Los Angeles Kings, 14-4-3, 31 points, 3rd Pacific, 4th West
@
Columbus Blue Jackets, 8-14-4, 20 points, 8th Metro, 15th East
The Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Columbus tonight. The Jackets have struggled this season, but only one thing really stands out from the start this season:
No excuses this season. The Jackets are 31.7% of the way through the season heading into tonight. The Jackets are healthy, and despite changes, the team has not gotten better.
Player to Watch
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Could there be any other?
PLD was a surprising hit when the Jackets drafted him third overall after Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine. After developing into a high level center, something broke between himself, the team, and the coaching staff that resulted in PLD asking for a trade and loafing through his final shift here. PLD was traded to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic, posting 63-80-143 in 195 games for the Jets before moving to the LA Kings. Since joining the Kings this offseason, he has 5-6-11 in 21 games. With Anze Kopitar, PLD, and Philip Danault, the Kings may have the best center depth in the league. Containing them will be critical to a CBJ win.
Jackets Notes
Elvis Merzlikins has a .921 save percentage in his last nine games … Dmitry Voronkov and Adam Fantilli are tied for 5th in goals scored by NHL rookies … Zach Werenski has 13 assists in his last 13 games … Werenski in also has the franchise lead in assists by a defenseman … Johnny Gaudreau is four points from 700 for his career … Daniil Tarasov has been assigned to Cleveland for a conditioning assignment
The Other Bench
Former CBJ defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov will also be in town, having signed a two year dal with the Kings … Gavrikov is is 2-4-6 this year with a +5 rating … with a win tonight, the Kings will tie an NHL record with their 10th straight road win to open a series … the Kings have outscored opponents 42-15 on the road this season
Season Series
12/05/2023 LAK @ CBJ
02/20/2024 CBJ @ LAK
Stats
| Los Angeles | | Columbus |
| 3.86 (1) | GPG | 2.85 (24) |
| 2.29 (1) | GAPG | 3.35 (21) |
| 19.7 (17) | PP% | 12.7 (27) |
| 89.7 (1) | PK% | 86.8 (4) |
| 57.72 (2) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 46.83 (25) |
| 56.65 (2) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 47.27 (24) |
| 10.11 (6) | 5v5 Shooting % | 9.29 (9) |
| .9145 (15) | 5v5 Save % | .9080 (17) |
| Trevor Moore, 12 | G Leader | Boone Jenner, 13 |
| Adrian Kempe, 14 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 17 |
| Adrian Kempe, 22 | P Leader | Zach Werenski, 19 |
| Andreas Englund, 29 | PIM Leader | Sean Kuraly, 22 |
| 9-0-0 | Home/Road | 6-7-1 |
| 7-2-1 | Last 10 | 4-6-0 |
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Boone Jenner | Kent Johnson |
| Kirill Marchenko | Dmitri Voronkov | Yegor Chinakhov |
| Patrik Laine | Adam Fantilli | Justin Danforth |
| Alexandre Texier | Sean Kuraly | Mathieu Olivier |
| Zach Werenski | Adam Boqvist |
| Ivan Provorov | David Jiricek |
| Jake Bean | Erik Gudbranson |
| Elvis Merzlikins |
| Spencer Martin |
Los Angeles Kings
| Quinton Byfield | Anze Kopitar | Adrian Kempe |
| Kevin Fiala | Philip Danault | Trevor Moore |
| Carl Grundstrom | Pierre-Luc Dubois | Alex Lafreniere |
| Jaret Anderson-Dolan | Trevor Lewis | Arthur Kaliyev |
| Mikey Anderson | Drew Doughty |
| Vladislav Gavrikov | Matt Roy |
| Andreas Englund | Jordan Spence |
| Cam Talbot |
| Pheonix Copley |