LAK 5, CBJ 4 (OT): Kempe’s Overtime Heroics Give Kings 5-4 Win Over Blue Jackets

By Will Chase on March 9, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Mar 9, 2026; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Los Angeles Kings right wing Adrian Kempe (9) celebrates his game winning goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during overtime at Nationwide Arena.
© Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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A crazy game for a random Monday afternoon.

  1 2 3 OT F
LAK 2 1 1 1 5
CBJ 1 2 1 0 4

CBJ GOALS: 
Conor Garland (1st, 17:35)
Denton Mateychuk (2nd, 10:53)
Conor Garland (2nd, 12:13)
Kirill Marchenko (PP) (3rd, 18:04)

Adrian Kempe's overtime winner at 2:34 helped the Los Angeles Kings over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 on Monday at Nationwide Arena.

Kempe had two goals on the day. Brian Dumoulin had a three-point game with a goal and two assists. Artemi Panarin and Scott Laughton each had a goal and an assist. Anton Forsberg stopped 29 shots.

Conor Garland scored twice for Columbus. Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko each scored. Jet Greaves made 26 saves.

Three seconds off the opening face-off, the Blue Jackets had a four-minute power play as Quinton Byfield was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Mason Marchment.

The Jackets fired seven shots on goal during the man advantage, but could not convert. It also took several grade-A chances by Forsberg to stymie Columbus.

At the 6:46 mark of the first period, Laughton, a recent trade acquisition by L.A., scored to put the Kings on top 1-0. Panarin, another deadline acquisition, put the Kings ahead 2-0 at 14:48.

The third recent trade acquisition of the first period, this time for Columbus, was Garland, as he scored his first as a Jacket.

Columbus, trailing 2-1 after one period, claimed the lead for the first time in the second period after goals by Mateychuk and Garland's second of the game. The goals occurred 1:20 apart.

Kempe's goal at 14:09 of the third period knotted the teams at 3-3. In the third period, Dumoulin's third point of the game, and his first goal as a King, put L.A. ahead 4-3 at 10:07. Marchenko tied the game with the power-play goal at 18:04, but it was Kempe's second goal in overtime that was the difference.

"The biggest thing the last two overtimes, we haven't controlled the puck at all," head coach Rick Bowness said. "We got killed on face-offs tonight. All night. So, we ended up spending too much energy chasing the puck."

Erik Gudbranson left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury. Bowness said Gudbranson will not be on the upcoming three-game road trip.

Here's how the Blue Jackets stretched their point streak to six games but ultimately came up short:

1st Period:

(6:46 — LAK Goal): Laughton started the goal-scoring parade. It's his second goal as a King in as many games with the Kings since being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs last week. Dumoulin (13) and Alex Turcotte (10) added the assists.

(14:48 — LAK Goal): Panarin's (21) second goal as a King gave him his seventh point as a King in his seventh game with the club. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last three games. Konsta Helenius (3) added the helper.

(17:35 — CBJ Goal): Finally, it was Garland's first that brought the Blue Jackets within one goal to make it 2-1 Kings. The goal was his eighth of the season as Sean Monahan (19) and Ivan Provorov (18) picked up the assists.

(10:53 — CBJ Goal): Mateychuk's 10th goal tied the game at two apiece. Ivan Lundestrom (6) and Boone Jenner (20) put up the assists.

(12:13 — CBJ Goal): Garland put himself on hat-trick watch with his second goal of the game and as a Jacket. Mateychuk (16) picked up his second point of the period.

(14:09 — LAK Goal): Kempe (24) cleaned up a juicy rebound left by Greaves to tie the game again. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in his last five games. Kopitar (20) and Dumoulin (14) got the assists. Kopitar has points (one goal, three assists) in four straight.

(10:07 — LAK Goal): Dumoulin's (two) first goal, and third point of the game, put the Kings ahead 4-3. Mikey Anderson (nine) and Laughton (five) added the helpers.

(18:04 — CBJ Goal): Marchenko (23) cashed in on the Jackets' fourth power play of the day to tie the game and force overtime. Zach Werenski (46) and Charlie Coyle (34) had the assists. Coyle is on a six-game point streak (one goal, six assists).

LAK GAME STATS CBJ
31 SHOTS 33
62.7% FACEOFFS 37.3%
0/3 POWER PLAY 1/4
3/4 PENALTY KILL 3/3
25 HITS 12
18 GIVEAWAYS 15
4 TAKEAWAYS 4
13 BLOCKED SHOTS 18
ALL SITUATIONS ADVANCED STATS
68 SHOT ATTEMPTS 57
27 SCORING CHANCES 17
15 HIGH-DANGER CHANCES 4
Advanced Data Via NaturalStatTrick.com

Stat Chat:

  • In the regular season series between the Jackets and Kings, the home team has earned a point in nine of the last 10 meetings (6-1-3).
     
  • The assist for Jenner on Mateychuk's second-period goal was the 204th of his career, tying him with David Vyborny for third in Blue Jackets history.
     
  • Columbus has points in nine straight home games (6-0-3) and 13 of 14 games at NWA in 2026 (9-1-4).

 

Up Next:

The Blue Jackets head to Tampa for Tuesday's second game of a back-to-back against the Lightning. Columbus is 2-0-0 against Tampa Bay, winning the season series from them for the first time since 2016-17 (3-0-0). Puck drop from Benchmark International Arena is set for 7 p.m.

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