PREVIEW: Blue Jackets kick off busy weekend Friday against the Kings

BLUE JACKETS (28-25-1) vs. KINGS (29-19-7)

Tuesday night against the Devils, the Blue Jackets saw a little bit of everything.
There was a slow start, perhaps brought on by putting a lot of energy into Sunday night's game vs. rival Pittsburgh. There was a bounceback push as the Blue Jackets built leads of 3-1 and 4-2. And there was a fight to the finish as Columbus had to hold on down the stretch to capture a 4-3 victory.
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No matter what was thrown at the team, the Blue Jackets were able to respond and get the win, and perhaps that's fitting considering the victory was the team's eighth in 11 games since the All-Star break.
"I think it comes with winning games," veteran Jake Voracek said after the game when asked where the team's confidence and resiliency come from. "If you win some games, when you are down 1-0 or 2-0 in the first and you come back in the game and win it, it gives you that extra confidence, that extra push that you can win again. That's what we're seeing right now. Every time you win, it gets easier to find ways to win."
It's the same when a team is struggling -- the Blue Jackets certainly felt that as they slogged through a difficult December -- but when a team has started to stack wins on top of each other, there is a vibe that it can just keep happening.
The Blue Jackets were able to turn from a losing skid to a winning run by the work put in throughout January, with the team focusing on improving its defense and checking while getting better at getting out of its own zone. That, in turn, has led to more puck possession and offense, while the standout efforts of such players as Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Voracek have helped, too.
"I think winning breeds winning, and losing breeds losing, too," head coach Brad Larsen said Thursday. "I think our team is understanding how hard it is to win and what it is supposed to look like. We've won different ways, which is good. We've come from behind, we've had leads, we've had to hold leads. They should feel good about themselves that we've gone through some things.
"But I keep saying it, I just feel like this is another phase for us now. Our schedule is really tough. We have had a good stretch, but you cannot take a breath. You just can't because it's too hard a league."
Larsen is right about that, as the Blue Jackets are in as tough a stretch as you're likely to find in the NHL. Four of the previous five games were against teams in the top 10 of the league in points percentage, and nine of the next 12 will be against teams currently in playoff position.
"We want to be in the playoffs, and if you want success in the playoffs, you have to beat the teams that are in the top of the league," Bjorkstrand said. "It's a good challenge for us. We believe we can play with any team, so we're ready for it."

Know the Foe

After winning a pair of Stanley Cups in 2012 and '14, the Kings haven't made the playoffs since 2018 or won a postseason round since that last Cup, and over the past couple of seasons, Los Angeles has focused on a rebuild.
The Kings are now starting to see the fruits of those labors, melding one of the top young cores with a number of veterans to build a team that's in second place in the Pacific Division thus far. And the best is still likely yet to come given the talent the Kings have in the pipeline.
Some of those young players are starting to make their way to the NHL level -- 2021 World Juniors gold medalist Arthur Kaliyev has spent the whole season with the Kings, 2020 second overall pick Quinton Byfield is currently on the roster, and highly touted prospects Alex Turcotte, Samuel Fagemo and Gabriel Vilardi all have made cameos this year -- but the veteran core is still leading the way.
Six of the top eight scorers on the team are at least 28 years old, with a familiar name leading the way. Anze Kopitar is 34 years old and nearing 1,200 NHL games, but the Slovenian center is showing no signs of slowing down with a team-high 50 points (15 goals, 35 assists) and a faceoff win percentage of 56.8.
All-Star winger Adrian Kempe is next in scoring, as the 25-year-old has a team-best 25 goals among 36 points, while Nashville import Viktor Arvidsson has 15-20-35 in his first season in Los Angeles. Trevor Moore adds 9-22-31, while former Montreal center Phillip Danault has largely been himself in his first season with the Kings, posting 15-16-31 and a plus-12 rating.
Veteran defenseman Drew Doughty (7-23-30), winger Alex Iafallo (14-15-29) and 37-year-old forward Dustin Brown (6-17-23) follow.
In net, another veteran has led the way as 36-year-old Jonathan Quick has started a team-best 31 games and is 14-11-6 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. Cal Petersen has played in 24 games, going 14-8-1 with 2.74 GAA and .899 save percentage.
Despite the strong record, LA is not in the top 10 in the NHL in any major category, placing 19th in scoring (2.91 goals per game), 11th in team defense (2.82 goals per game), 27th in power play (16.8 percent) and 29th in penalty kill (75.3 percent).