The team that continues to grow as a unit.
That would be the Columbus Blue Jackets, as the team tries to find out what they have early on in this season. The Jackets have a rookie in Zach Werenski who really stands out among the younger players in the NHL, as well as a veteran in goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky who has been able to bounce back this year so far.
The team looked to continue their success against the LA Kings, a team without their top two goaltenders. The Kings would turn to Peter Budaj, their third-string goalie, as the guy they would put between the pipes. Budaj is quite familiar with some of the Blue Jackets, as he was a part of that Ontario Reign team that fell to the Lake Erie Monsters last year. Budaj was getting his second start of the season, and for a Blue Jackets team who has a good amount of former Monsters on the squad, Tuesday night could have been a big night for the team offensively.
The first period was very defensive-minded, as no goals were scored. There were also no penalties throughout the first twenty-minute frame, which was very impressive. It would be interesting to see who would strike first in this game.
Brandon Saad would be the player to start the scoring off, as he was able to score right away in the second period. With a goal in the first minute of the period, the Jackets were in business. They were able to put the clamps down defensively for most of the period, as they only surrendered one goal at the 13:40 mark to Anze Kopitar. The Jackets were able to answer right back, as they were able to score off of the power play. Dustin Brown went into the penalty box for holding and the Blue Jackets scored twenty seconds into the power play. Cam Atkinson’s go-ahead goal looked to be the turning point. In the third period, that would not appear to be the case.
The Kings were being shut down for the first ten minutes of the third period, as their offense looked like it stalled out. They were able to find some sort of offense at the 14:03 mark, as Drew Doughty scored the tying goal. That would be the only goal of the period, as the Blue Jackets and Kings were tied at 2 apiece.
In overtime, Alec Martinez spent little time finding a good look and getting the puck through the net, as the Kings came from behind to win the game in front of their home fans. The loss sends Columbus to 2-2-1-0 on the year. Columbus will take on San Jose on Thursday.
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