from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,

It was hard to watch the Blue Jackets play last night against the Los Angeles Kings without wondering how ugly the score would have been – 5-1? 6-1? 8-1? – if not for the wizardry of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

With 5:35 remaining, when Bobrovsky left the game with an apparent upper-body injury, the rest of the Blue Jackets got what they deserved.

The Kings, facing backup Curtis McElhinney, scored an extra-attacker goal w 1:27 remaining to force overtime (Jeff Carter), then ended it with 26.5 seconds remaining in 3-on-3 play (Alec Martinez), claiming a well-earned 3-2 win before 15,633 in Nationwide Arena.

Bobrovsky will be evaluated today. So too, yet again, will the Blue Jackets’ character, heart, willpower, etc., all those high-quality hockey traits that seem to come and go with stunning regularity in Columbus.

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Game highlights are below...