Alec Martinez gives the Kings a bump with overtime goal in 3-2 win over Blue Jackets

There can only be one thing — well, two — when defenseman Alec Martinez and left wing Milan Lucic are in close proximity after a Kings victory.

Two experienced professional hockey players morph into giddy kids. “Two chest bumps for two points,” Martinez said.

The Kings pulled off a come-from-behind victory in riveting fashion, tying the score on Jeff Carter’s effort with 1 minute 27 seconds remaining in regulation. They prevailed when the wide-open Martinez scored from the right side with 27 seconds left in overtime, pushing the Kings to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

This was the Kings’ fifth straight victory. They are 5-0 in overtime this season and won this one after trailing 2-0 until late in the second period. None other than Carter, the former Blue Jacket, got them to overtime when he scored his 11th goal of the season, bringing on more boos from the crowd at Nationwide Arena.

They haven’t forgotten Carter’s very short tenure here.

“It’s been long enough,” said Carter, who was traded to the Kings in 2012. “I’m past all that. Big goal and a big character win. It’s a long trip and we went into the game as a mind-set of a one-game road trip.”

Carter is leading the Kings in scoring and has a seven-game point streak. He has many creative ways of finishing and this time he found the right spot to get open and beat Blue Jackets goalie Curtis McElhinney, who replaced the injured Sergei Bobrovsky with 5:37 remaining.

“He [Martinez] got blocked a couple of times and he was just trying to get it through,” Carter said. “I just slid into some open space and Looch [Lucic] made a great play of getting the rebound and sliding it right over to me. I didn’t get a lot on it because it was kind of in a weird place.”

Blue Jackets Coach John Tortorella was upset, saying of his team: “I’m totally embarrassed by the way we played.”

Ryan Johansen’s missed coverage opened up plenty of space in overtime for Kings captain Dustin Brown, who patiently waited for the right opportunity.

“That whole shift I virtually didn’t do anything except just try to get open and Brownie just kept on holding on to that puck, tiring the other guys out,” Martinez said. “[Nick Shore] made a good look at the net to get that D man to bite a bit, and then slid it over to me. I just had to put it in back door. Those two did all the work.”

All that was left after his goal were the celebratory chest bumps with Lucic.

“The chest bump has been very well received,” Martinez said. “I don’t think it’s stopping any time soon. It’s just a testament to Looch. Just a microcosm of how much we’ve benefited as a team with his addition.”

For the Kings, it was anything but a routine day. They looked weary early and were playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, rather than the usual 12 forwards because left wing Kyle Clifford returned to Los Angeles to follow the mandated protocol following a head shot.

He was hit in the face by Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman on Sunday but the Kings had no inkling he was questionable until after Tuesday’s morning skate. Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi was not pleased because the team had no time to make a recall from their minor league affiliate in Ontario.

“That’s like the thing with Cliffy right? Like the guy in Monty Python. If he had a broken leg he’d still go out there,” Lombardi said. “I was telling him, ‘You’ve got to tell us if you’re questionable.’

“We had no inkling he was even questionable until he got here.”

Lombardi said that the team would bring up forward Michael Mersch, who is leading Ontario in goal scoring.

Follow Lisa Dillman on Twitter @reallisa