Preview: Blue jackets are hosts of the Kings in the Star Wars Night

The reality is that the task that the Blue Jackets awaited on Thursday evening was as difficult as possible in the NHL.

Because of her speed, constant pressure and devotion, Carolina has to create chaos, which can turn his head to an opposing team, to be a call to be one of the teams against which it is hardest to play in the NHL.

Starting against the Hurricanes in the best times is a big challenge, but this makes the challenge even more difficult to do this in the second half of a successive game.

Columbus mastered the storm, so to speak by taking the lead in Raleigh 2-0 in a half, but finally the upswing overpowered the blue jackets. Carolina scored five goals in the second half and won a 7: 4 victory, which was not exactly representative of the way the blue jackets have been playing lately.

They had only conceded ten goals in the last seven games, but Carolina’s pressure in a difficult situation at the end of a road trip with four games in six days was too big.

“They don’t allow you to carry out many moves in the offensive zone and even in the neutral zone,” said Jack Johnson afterwards. “We did it well in the first and third thirds, but you can’t have a second third like this against a good team and expect good things.”

But like a wise man (Jedi?) Said, “Do it or don’t do it. There is no attempt. ”The result at the end of the evening was that the Blue Jackets North Carolina left zero points, and there are certain areas of your game that you can clean up. If there was a special frustration over the performance, it was that the Blue Jackets at times lost their structure and allowed Carolina to create a no-go against a team that is as fast and talented as the hurricanes.

However, if there was a rescue, it was that the blue jackets did not go under without a fight and scored two of their own goals to convert a 5-2 deficit into a 5: 4 game in two games. Columbus did not come across the mountain in the third third, but the team showed at least the fighting spirit, which was common all the season.

“We fell a bit a little, but the group held out and we obviously continued,” said head coach Dean Evason. “In the end we just didn’t find any way.”

The good news is that the team got a little break on Friday and return the Blue Jackets to the Nationwide Arena tonight to compete against the Kings. The cosiness from home was noticeable this season, but especially in the further course of the season, since Columbus collected points in his own barn in 18 of the last 21 games (15-3-3).

Know the dark side: Los Angeles Kings

Head coach: Jim Hiller (second season)

Team statistics: Goals per game: 2.91 (18th) | Point defense: 2.44 (2nd) | PP: 16.2 percent (28th) | PK: 82.1 percent (8th)

The story: Los Angeles, 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup winner, has not won a playoff series since the latter victory, including three resignation in a row in the first round. The reconstruction after the last title gave the team a crowd young talent, and the hope is to mix them with a few solid veterans in order to bring the team back into the stratosphere of the NHL elite. Los Angeles took third place in the Pacific Division in the last three seasons and took the same place before today’s game.

Team leader: Adrian Kempe is likely to be the most underestimated player in the league, because in the last three seasons he has scored almost 35 goals each and leads the Kings this year with 24 goals and 44 points. The 28-year-old Swedish wing player scored in eight of the last ten games. Now in his 19th season, the apparently old-fashioned Anze Kopitar is still a great player at the age of 37 and takes second place in the team with a 12-31-43 line. This is followed by Alex Laferriere (13-13-26) and Kevin Fiala (15-11-26), while the 21-year-old Brandt Clarke leads the defense with 24 points.

The cup winner from 2022, Darcy Kuemper, plays behind one of the best defensive teams in the league and experiences a career renaissance with a 14-4-5 record, a GAA of 2.06 and a saving percent of 0.922. In the meantime, it is located with David Rittich (20 starts, 11-10-0, 2.65 GAA, .884 Save percentage).

What is new: The return of the expected Hall of Fame defender Drew Doughty is imminent because the 16-year-old veteran did not play this season because of an ankle injury. Laferriere also had to pause due to an upper body injury, which is not a good development for a team that is constantly trying to score goals, including only 11 in the last six games, since Los Angeles has set a balance of 2-4-0. On the other hand, the defense was strong throughout the season, with the Kings, according to Moneypuck.com, lead the NHL at 5 against 5 for the expected goals per 60 minutes.

In trend: Los Angeles won a 5-2 final between the teams on November 9th, Columbus’ fourth defeat in a row in the series, but the Blue Jackets have scored points in the last five games in the Nationalwide Arena (3-0-2) .

Former CBJ: Defender Vladislav Gavrikov is at the Kings in his third season and has so far has a record of 2-14-16 and a plus 11 rating, while playing almost 24 minutes a evening without Doughty. His last goal scored 29 games against Columbus.