Blue Jackets at Kings
THE STORY: The road continues to be a troublesome place for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who attempt to halt their six-game losing streak away from home when they visit the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. Columbus is 0-3-1 on its six-game road trip and has not won on foreign ice since its last visit to Los Angeles on Jan. 7, when it posted a 1-0 triumph over the Kings. The Blue Jackets have lost five straight contests overall and seven of their last nine meetings with Los Angeles. The Kings, who are 1-1-1 on their four-game homestand, have scored fewer than two goals in five of their last eight matches in their own building. Justin Williams is looking to extend his eight-game points streak.
TV: FSN Ohio (Columbus), FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (13-31-6): Columbus has scored a total of five goals over the first four games of its road trip. The club has been shut out twice in its last five contests after scoring at least once in each of its first 45 matches. There may be something to the rumors that had Philadelphia trading Jeff Carter last summer for reasons that had nothing to do with on-ice performance. Several recent reports have teams losing interest in acquiring Carter before the trade deadline due to his poor attitude. However, one source says Carter's agent, Rick Curran, stated his client has not requested a trade.
ABOUT THE KINGS (24-16-10): Simon Gagne has been traveling very slowly down the road to recovery. Gagne will miss his 15th consecutive game since suffering a concussion against the Phoenix Coyotes on Dec. 26 and is nowhere near close to being able to begin skating, according to general manager Dean Lombardi. "Is he close to playing? No," Lombardi said. "He's been making progress very slowly, and that's the way I expect it to continue."
OVERTIME:
1. The Blue Jackets have lost 18 of their last 24 games against Pacific Division opponents.
2. Columbus has recent history on its side as the road team has won each of the last four meetings between the teams.