Gaudreau, Blue Jackets recover for OT victory against Kings

COLUMBUS --Johnny Gaudreau scored 40 seconds into overtime, and the Columbus Blue Jackets recovered to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 6-5 at Nationwide Arena on Sunday.

Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine deked around defenseman Sean Durzi and had his backhand attempt deflect to Gaudreau crashing the net. It appeared Gaudreau batted the rebound out of mid-air with his glove, but it was determined after video review that Kings forward Kevin Fiala directed the puck into his own net.
"It was a little bit of a close call there," Gaudreau, who also had two assists, told Bally Sports Ohio. "I tried to hit it with my stick. I think it hit my pants. They might have put it in their own net after. It went in. The team got the win. That was the most important thing."

Jack Roslovic tied a career high with four points (two goals, two assists), and Laine had a goal and two assists for Columbus (10-15-2), which won the final two games of a three-game homestand after a 9-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Elvis Merzlikins made 33 saves for his first win as the starting goalie since he made 26 saves in a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 20 (1-5-0).
"It was just one of those nights where we had to find a way and grind it out and just battle our way into a win," Laine said. "Happy the way it ended."

Anze Kopitar scored twice, and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves for Los Angeles (15-11-5), which is 2-1-1 to start a six-game road trip, including a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
"It's disappointing," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Another hard game to evaluate. I've been saying that pretty much the whole year. Great that we come back. Great that we score goals. Great that we stick with it. But the carelessness is killing us."
Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty was a late scratch because of a lower-body injury and is day to day.
Roslovic gave the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead at 18:00 of the second period with a one-timer on a 2-on-1 while short-handed. He extended it to 5-3 at 19:31 when he came off the bench and stepped into a pass from Gaudreau in the right face-off circle on a power play.
Roslovic, who entered the game with one goal this season, ended a 17-game goal drought. He extended his assist streak to three games (four assists).
"Not impressed with myself at the beginning of the season, but it's also been two, three, four games of a good stretch for me. I can't stop there," Roslovic said.

Kopitar cut it to 5-4 at 4:52 of the third period, tucking in a rebound around the post, and Adrian Kempe scored 39 seconds later at 5:31 to tie it 5-5 from the low slot for his 100th NHL goal.
"Everybody knew we needed a lot better of ourselves, and it showed in the third period," Kempe said. "But it's tough playing a good 40 minutes and a not-so-good 20 minutes and expect to win. Good first and third periods. Second [period], obviously didn't come up to our standards."
Kirill Marchenko scored his first NHL goal to give Columbus a 1-0 lead at 6:44 of the first period when he scored from the slot after receiving a cross-ice pass from Kent Johnson.
"I'm very excited and it's a great goal, but it's not my work, it's work of 'KJ,'" Marchenko said. "Very good pass for me and just shoot at the net."

Boone Jenner extended the lead to 2-0 at 9:28, tipping in a shot from Roslovic on a power play.
Kopitar cut it to 2-1 at 4:42 of the second period over a sprawling Merzlikins.
Blake Lizotte tied it 2-2 at 8:25 before Laine restored the Blue Jackets lead on a 2-on-1 with a one-timer from the left circle to make it 3-2 at 10:03.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan tied it 3-3 at 15:02, scoring from the left circle after receiving a pass from Durzi.
"That's a good hockey team over there," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "It was a little bit of a messy game, as you saw, but that's a good team. They don't give up much. We were able to generate a little bit there. But they're in another zone really quick with the way they play."
NOTES:Gaudreau has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 27 games, tying Artemi Panarin (2018-19) for the second-fewest needed to reach 30 points in Blue Jackets history. Only Cam Atkinson did it in fewer games (26 games in 2018-19). Gaudreau has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in his past eight games. … Laine extended his point streak to four games (four goals, three assists). … Kopitar has 497 points (177 goals, 321 assists) in 621 road games, surpassing Dave Taylor for the second-most in Kings history. Only Marcel Dionne has more on the road (607 points; 262 goals, 345 assists). … Los Angeles defenseman Tobias Bjornfot had two shots on goal, one hit, one blocked shot and was plus-2 in 14:23 after being a healthy scratch for three games. … Columbus goalie Jet Greaves served as the backup after being an emergency recall Saturday.