The Kings etched themselves into the NHL history books on Tuesday night as they picked up their 10th road victory in a row to start the 2023-24, joining the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres as the only two teams to do so. Coming in as dramatic fashion as we’ve seen this season, the Kings queued up an unlikely comeback late in the game to keep their road winning streak alive.
The Blue Jackets took a stranglehold on the Kings through the first two period, scoring the game’s first three goals. The Kings surrendered a power-play goal 9:07 into the first period, just their second allowed power-play goal in their opponents last 34 man advantage chances. Down by one heading into the second period, first Johnny Gaudreau notched his fourth goal of the season before Mathieu Olivier put the Blue Jackets 3-0 with his first goal of the season. Despite a 23-22 shot advantage after two periods for the Kings, they faced an uphill battle heading into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Quickly into the third period, the Kings flipped the momentum of the game and cut into the Blue Jackets lead. It took the Kings just 23 second to get on board in the third period when Phillip Danault deflected in a Matt Roy shot from the point. Danault then added to his night offensively with his second goal of the game and sixth of the season less than five minutes later. Finishing off a rebound from a Vladislav Gavrikov shot that laid on the goal line, it marked Danault’s first two-goal game of the season. The Kings continued to pressure the Blue Jackets and evened the game at 3-3 just 1:20 after Danault’s second goal of the game. Arthur Kaliyev knotted the game with a rebound put-back for his sixth goal of the season and fourth point (3-1=4) in the last five games. No more offense would result in the remainder of regulation and the game headed to overtime after a third period saw the Kings outshoot the Blue Jackets 15-7.
Overtime didn’t last long, just 33 seconds in fact. Drew Doughty one-timed a pass from Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe to keep the Kings streaking on the road with his fifth goal of the season.
The Kings scoring four unanswered goals to stage their first three-goal, third period comeback victory in more than 16 years (Nov. 10, 2007 when Anze Kopitar scored the overtime winner during his second NHL season). It is the eighth such victory in franchise history and first on the road in more than three decades.
