Kings Finally Beat Columbus

It took a little while, but it finally happened for the Kings.

Back among the top eight teams in the Western Conference? That too, but Saturday’s story line was the smashing of a streak as confounding as any in the league.

The Kings defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, and so kicked the habit of losing – in overtime, in regulation, in close and not-so-close games – against one of the league’s worst teams, ending a 7-0-1 streak for the Blue Jackets that dated to February 2002.

Ian Laperriere had two goals and tied a career-high with three points, and Sean Avery, the NHL’s most penalized player, had a goal and an assist to send the Kings ahead of the St. Louis Blues for eighth place in the West, good enough for a spot in the playoffs if they started today.

That won’t happen for more than six weeks, but the Kings will take the victory and quietly tuck away a five-game winless streak in front of a pleased, if not relieved, sellout crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center.

Rookie Rick Nash scored twice in the final seven minutes to throw a scare into the Kings, who managed to hang on to a once-cozy 4-1 lead and move back into playoff position after falling to ninth Thursday.

“Not just a little nervous, very,” King Coach Andy Murray said of the situation.

“It’s unfortunate that it came to that because we were in really strong possession of the puck most of the night and made some poor decisions there in the end.”

There was nothing short of dominance for the first 53 minutes. The Kings outshot Columbus, 11-0, to start the game and led in the same department, 29-10, after two periods.

Avery was all over the ice and almost managed to stay out of the penalty box, and line mate Laperriere extended his scoring surge to four goals in seven games.

“It’s nice to see those guys get that type of reinforcement,” Murray said. “Most nights these guys are trying to prevent goals.”

At 7:46 of the first period, Avery, from the left boards, found Laperriere in front for a snap shot that beat Marc Denis low to the glove side.

Laperriere returned the favor in the second period, corralling a cross-ice pass from Eric Belanger and firing a pass from the right side to Avery in the middle for a one-timer at 13:58.

Laperriere scored again at 3:51 of the third period, converting Belanger’s well-placed pass in a two-on-one. He was an inch away from a hat trick but hit the crossbar after intercepting a pass deep in the Columbus zone with 6:55 left.

“I’m not a goal-scorer

King goaltender Cristobal Huet stopped 18 shots and had moments good and bad, including a careless trip behind the net in the first period that ended with Alexander Svitov plucking the puck off Huet’s stick and nearly converting for a goal.

Nash broke an eight-game scoreless streak with his 32nd goal at 13:49 of the third period. His backhander with 1:28 left in the third period pulled the Blue Jackets within a goal, but the Kings held on from there.

“Every game is so big right now,” Laperriere said. “We can’t let any games slip from now on.”

 *

Rookie right wing Dustin Brown has been cleared to practice without contact and will start skating with the team today. Brown has missed eight games since reaggravating an ankle injury Feb. 2. “It feels better than it did the first time” when he returned, Brown said. “I haven’t been able to test it yet. Trying to skate with people will be different than skating with myself.”