The Los Angeles Kings came out of their eight-day break fresh and focused. They needed every last bit of attention, too, against the NHL’s worst team. ... The Kings have won eight of their last 10 games against the Blue Jackets, who always seem to give them fits despite being the worst team in the NHL.

The victory gave the Kings a successful start to what they consider a "new" season following the All-Star break, though their performance was hardly artistic. "We were average," said Darryl Sutter, who is 10-2-6 since taking over as coach.

Lest anyone start doing back flips over the Kings’ power play, stop and consider that Columbus’ penalty-kill unit came into the game ranked 29th in the NHL. So when the stoppable force met the movable object, the Kings’ power play went 2-for-3 against the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill.

The Kings improved to 60 points, good for seventh in the West, by winning their second straight game. They hadn't played since beating Ottawa on Jan. 23. It was the League-high 30th home game for the Kings, who play their next six on the road.

The Kings are a curious bunch. They are loaded with enough players to appear a bona fide Stanley Cup playoffs contender, but they never quite seem to click. They're a decent heavyweight fighter without a signature punch.

A twitchy finger in Los Angeles may have cost the Blue Jackets at least a point tonight in Staples Center. If the Jackets were battling for a playoff spot, this would be a heartbreaker. Instead, it's a black mark on the NHL and just another lump in a season full of them.

"I didn't hear the buzzer, so I assumed it was a goal and after we celebrated the goal I was skating back and realized there wasn't a lot of time left. So I was scared that it didn't count." - Drew Doughty, on his game winning goal.

"We were real average, quite honestly. The difference between this game, and the last game we played Columbus, was special teams. Last time, we had eight power plays and didn’t score. Tonight, we scored two power-play goals. Difference in the game. And then the (penalty) kill on Justin’s penalty late, that’s not much fun." – Coach Darryl Sutter, on the game.

"Watching the replay and talking with our (Fox Sports Ohio) producer, who runs our show, the clock stopped at 1.8 seconds – it stopped for 1.5 seconds and they scored with 0.5 seconds (remaining). Something happened there, and it's really disappointing because our guys battled and worked hard." –Jackets interim coach Todd Richards, on the game.

"We will never know if we should have had one point or two points in the standings. What we do know is that we should not have had zero. Anyone who has competed at a high level of sports knows that when you put everything into a game, the result matters. And to have the result altered unfairly stings." – Blue Jackets Scott Howson, on the team's offical blog.