Leclaire stops Kings

Pascal Leclaire was about the only Columbus Blue Jacket who wasn’t outplayed.

Leclaire stopped 38 shots for his first NHL shutout to lead the Blue Jackets to a 2-0 victory over the Kings on Friday night.

“Pascal stole it for us,” Coach Gerard Gallant said. “We owe Pascal for that one.”

Nikolai Zherdev and Fredrik Modin scored goals to help the Blue Jackets end a four-game losing skid and extend the Kings’ winless streak to four.

For the most part, the Kings set the tempo and controlled the puck throughout the game, but they failed to score on eight power plays. They outshot the Blue Jackets, 38-14 -- the second-fewest shots Columbus has ever had in a win.

“We dominated the game tonight,” Kings Coach Marc Crawford said.

“When you dominate the game, you’re going to win more than you’re going to lose, for sure. You have to accept the fact that sometimes goaltenders win games for teams. Tonight theirs did.”

Seconds after the Kings’ Anze Kopitar lost the puck on a backhand with a wide-open net in front of him late in the first period, the Blue Jackets broke through.

Rick Nash dug the puck off the short boards and made a long pass that found Zherdev skating clear of the defense.

Zherdev faked to the forehand side then went to the backhand and chipped the puck high into the net over goalie Dan Cloutier’s right shoulder for his fourth goal.

The Kings were ineffective on seven consecutive chances with a man-advantage from early in the first period through the first two minutes of the third period.

Leclaire also turned aside the Kings during 50 seconds of a five-on-three advantage midway through the second period. He twice stopped Rob Blake on slap shots over that span.

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KINGS TONIGHT

at Dallas, 5, FSNW

Site -- American Airlines Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Kings 3-7-2, Stars 8-2-0.

Record vs. Stars -- 0-2-0.

Update -- The Kings were repeat offenders, losing consecutive 4-1 games to the Stars two weeks ago, bookend losses that sent them on their current 1-9 streak. The Kings are 0-5-2 this season against teams considered playoff contenders -- the Ducks, the Stars, the Minnesota Wild and the Detroit Red Wings. Brent Sopel sat out Friday’s game with what Kings officials said was a foot injury. The Kings are off to their worst start since the 1987-88 season, when they opened with a 3-8-1 record.

-- Chris Foster