The Kings scored their first goal at the 11:05 mark when Matt Greene scored just his second goal of the season, assisted by Alexander Frolov. That goal was the lone goal for the first period. In the second period, the Kings once again scored the lone goal as Anze Kopitar notched his 21st goal of the season. Ryan Smyth and Wayne Simmonds got together on the assist.

In the third period, Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar added his second goal of the game to give Los Angeles a 4-0 lead. Columbus scored their lone goal of the night with 9:22 to go. Antoine Vermette scored his 17th goal of the season to put the Blue Jackets on the score board. The Blue Jackets out shot the Kings 30-18, including 12-3 in the final period.

The win for the Kings moved them to 31-19-3 overall, while Columbus fell to 21-26-9. The Blue Jackets will now host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. The game will feature the 13th and 14th team in the Western Conference. St. Louis leads the Blue Jackets by 3 points for fourth place in the Central Division. St. Louis is 9-14-4 at home, and the Blue Jackets are 9-17-4 on the road.

Assuming, however, for the sake of argument, that this is what the deal ends up like, Ottawa and San Jose each seem to be getting what they want in this deal.  Ottawa finally ends the ongoing headache that Heatley represents, and avoids an awkward camp with him present. They also get some young scoring help. Similarly, San Jose gets a talented forward, and avoids the discomfort of having Marleau, the defrocked captain, in their camp. 

Los Angeles may  be the loser in this one.  They are giving up a lot of scoring in favor of adding some age and leadership.  Not sure that is an even deal, considering that Frolov and Stoll combined for 100 points last season. Sure, Marleau ended up with 71 points, but he is notoriously streaky, and LA has removed 2 of the key offensive tools that would help Marleau’s numbers. 

Interesting stuff.  Now let’s see if some other deals start happening.