LOS ANGELES — The Kings nailed down their fifth win in six games under interim head coach Jim Hiller, putting away the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Returning from a successful road trip that featured a trio of come-from-behind, one-goal victories, the Kings continued to work themselves out of the midseason funk that resulted in Hiller replacing head coach Todd McLellan less than three weeks ago.
Pierre-Luc Dubois’ second two-goal game of the season, a highlight-reel effort from Quinton Byfield, a late power-play conversion from Kevin Fiala and an exclamation point courtesy of Drew Doughty provided the Kings (28-16-10, 66 points) a clear path to their sixth win in seven games.
Goaltender Cam Talbot put in a strong effort, securing 33 saves against the last-place team in the Metropolitan Division, which last week fired General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen.
Blue Jackets starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins stopped 31 of the 36 shots he faced, and the first one he couldn’t set the tone.
Byfield’s unassisted opening goal stole the show.
From a faceoff in the Kings’ end, the 6-foot-5 forward jumped on a loose puck and hustled toward the Blue Jackets’ zone, where he veered to his left before cutting back with a hop while nutmegging defenseman Zach Werenski near the left faceoff circle.
In one fluid sequence, the 21-year-old winger who was the second pick in the 2020 NHL draft, kicked the puck forward to get it back on his stick before splitting defenders directly in front of the Columbus goal.
With his left knee on the ice, Byfield dragged the puck across the face of the goal to his backhand, beating Merzlikins’ glove for a 1-0 lead on his 18th of the season. Byfield, who also had an assist, has six goals and 12 points in his last 10 games.
The Kings doubled their lead early in the second period when Dubois, facing the team that drafted him third overall in 2016, converted 21 seconds into a power…
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