Apr 18, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings players celebrate as they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Game 44: Kings Win 2-1, improve to 25-14-5

LOS ANGELES – The Columbus Blue Jackets have been a much better team this season and have convinced the rest of the Western Conference that they are no longer the pushovers they once were. But be that as it may, the Los Angeles Kings were having none of it as the defeated the new-look Blue Jackets on Thursday to sweep the season series and hang on to the conference’s fourth-place tiebreak by virtue of total wins.

After a moment of silence before the game to honour the victims of this week’s Boston Marathon, both teams got to business as Drew Doughty continued his recent hot streak as he opened the scoring at the 8:35 mark of the first, notching his sixth of the year and on the power play. There was no scoring until the 12:07 mark of the second as Columbus’ Dalton Prout put in his first of the year to tie the game. But the Kings showed their strong resiliency as just 1:25 later, Kyle Clifford wristed his fifth of the year past Sergei Bobrovsky to put Los Angeles back out in front just like that.

In the third, the Jackets were pressing hard as they outshot the Kings 9-3 but Jonathan Quick was up to the task, stopping everything thrown his way to preserve the win for his team. The Jackets, on the other hand, became so frustrated that they started a scrum at the end of the game which included James Wiesnewski exchanging words with Quick. Cooler heads would prevail as the Kings picked up the two points and enter the weekend with a good dose of momentum on their side.

Thursday night also marked the long-anticipated return of defenseman Matt Greene who had been sidelined since January 19 and while he finished the night with a -1 rating and 16:15 of total ice time, both the Kings and their fans were thrilled to see their Number 2 back on the ice just in time for the playoffs.

This coupled with San Jose‘s win over Minnesota on Thursday means that both the Kings and Sharks remained tied (each with 55 points) in the West standings with each team having four games left on the respective schedule. Of course, as I already mentioned, Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker by virtue of more wins (25) to San Jose’s 24.

Standings aside, Thursday night’s win was a big one as any one is at this point of the season and the Kings hope to ride that success into their Saturday evening tilt at Staples Center with the Dallas Stars in what will be the final meeting between the two teams as division rivals.

After a brief stop in San Jose, the Los Angeles Kings are back home for their Thursday night tilt with the Columbus Blue Jacketsin what will be the third and final meeting of the season between the two clubs.

Feb 15, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown (23) and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Adrian Aucoin (33) collide in front of the net in the third period at the Staples Center. Kings won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

While they were looked as somewhat of an easy opponent in recent years, the Jackets have turned a corner and that is thanks in large part to goaltender and Vezina Trophy front-runner Sergei Bobrovsky whose maiden season in Columbus has turned a hapless club into a playoff contender. But as surprising as Columbus has been this year, the Kings have won both meetings thus far as they look for the series sweep in front of their home fans.

It has been a while since these two clubs met. The last time, in fact, was back on February 15 at Staples Center with Los Angeles coming out with a 2-1 victory. Before that, the Kings won 4-2 at Columbus’s Nationwide Arena back on February 5. But don’t let that make you overlook this club as the Jackets are winners of five-straight heading into Thursday night.

While the Kings will be welcoming back one of their former mates in Jack Johnson, they need to watch for the newest Blue Jacket as since being acquired from the New York Rangers earlier this month, Marian Gaborik has three goals and four assists in his eight games since being traded and overall, has 20 goals and 10 assists in 28 career games against the Kings.

As for the Kings, they have some hot hands of their own including Anze Kopitar who has a goal and nine assists in his last 12 games.

It’s that final push for the playoffs and while Los Angeles tries to create some momentum heading into the postseason, the Blue Jackets are simply trying to get in for the first time since 2009 and ultimately hope to become the second eighth-seeded team is as many year to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. But let’s take this one step at a time.

Enjoy the game!