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LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Kings know all about poor starts John Hayden Jersey , their first periods at home being something less than highlight material of late.But they are nothing if not resilient, and after falling behind 2-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, they stormed back for a 5-2 victory.”There are a lot of character guys in this room,” said forward Nate Thompson. ”They’ve been through a lot together. They’ve done a lot. It’s a veteran group that we know when we get down, that guys just dig deeper.”Thompson turned the momentum around by scoring the Kings’ first goal in the second period. It was his fifth goal of the season and first with the Kings since arriving in a Feb. 13 trade with Ottawa.”I thought the first goal by Thompson was huge for us,” said Kings coach John Stevens. ”It really got us going and we really had some momentum after that.”Alex Iafallo had two goals, and Tanner Pearson and Jeff Carter also scored for Los Angeles. Carter’s goal came on a shorthanded breakaway. Christian Folin had three assists and Jonathan Quick stopped 30 shots.Columbus coach John Tortorella also believed Thompson’s initial goal sparked the Kings.”I thought we lost our composure and never totally got it back,” Tortorella said. ”I don’t think the support was there like it was in the first period. They played better. We didn’t make enough plays. There were some plays to be made. We had some good minutes.”I thought Quick made some key saves. He played better and better as the game went on.”Cam Atkinson and Seth Jones scored the early goals for the Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo saved 29 shots on goal for Columbus.Atkinson’s goal came from a nifty backwards pass from behind the net from Mat Calvert that went through the legs of Anze Kopitar and to the charging Atkinson, who snapped it behind Quick’s back.The Kings scored three times in the second period to take a lead they would never relinquish. They looked like a much different team than the one that trailed 2-0 after the first period.”They came out hot,” Folin said. ”We kind of got on our heels. You have to give them credit. They came out really good.”But we talked in the room after the first period, that we needed to respond. We have 40 minutes to turn this thing around. And we did.”The Kings had played back-to-back games in a home-and-away series with the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday and Tuesday, but Stevens thought his team was ready for Columbus.”We were a step, maybe two steps, slow in the first period,” he said. ”It seemed like we were late to pucks Authentic Jonathan Toews Jersey , we were late to checks. They were playing the game at a lot higher pace than we were.”I think the room was ready, we were just a step off. We weren’t trying to change anything tactically, just our whole game pace had to come up a step and it did.”NOTES: The Kings signed their 2017 first-round pick (11th overall), Gabe Vilardi, to a three-year entry-level contract. The 18-year-old forward from Kingston, Ontario, has played in 134 career games in the Ontario Hockey League, totaling 142 points (60-82). … Iafallo scored twice Thursday, but had only six goals entering the game. … The Kings have won three straight and six of their last eight. … The Blue Jackets remain two points ahead of Carolina for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Continue their three-game trip in California on Friday in Anaheim.Kings: Remain at home to play Chicago on Saturday.— EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) The Los Angeles Kings believe they are still Stanley Cup contenders, even after being swept by the upstart Vegas Golden Knights in the first round. How close they are to that goal might be reflected in how negotiations go with defenseman Drew Doughty this summer.General manager Rob Blake said Friday that working out a contract extension with Doughty is the team’s top priority. The Kings and Doughty can begin holding talks on July 1, with his current deal set to expire at the end of the 2018-19 season.”I always wanted to be an LA King and I want to stay an LA King,” Doughty said.Doughty is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy presented to the league’s top defenseman after winning it in 2016. He had 10 goals and 50 assists in his most productive NHL season yet, but Doughty believes he can still improve his scoring output.”I wasn’t too happy with my goal totals this year,” Doughty said. ”I think I only maybe scored one or two one-timer goals Blake Comeau Jersey Womens , which in my career probably half of my goals are one-timer goals, so I was pretty disappointed about that this year. I can definitely improve on that and have an even better season and hopefully set some new career-highs.”The Kings scored just three goals in four games against the Golden Knights. Developing a more reliable offense is the one glaring weakness that needs be addressed, and lifting the Stanley Cup for the third time is a reasonable goal provided it gets solved going into next season.”Everybody is still here that was here in ’14 and almost in ’12 for that matter, too, so we’re not that far off,” center Anze Kopitar said. ”It’s going to take a lot of work, yes, but we’re not far off.”CAREER YEARSKopitar set personal bests with 35 goals and 57 assists while averaging a career-high 22:05 of playing time. His 92 points represented a 40-point improvement over his lackluster 2016-17, leading Kopitar to joke he is ”aging like wine.” Dustin Brown had 61 points to top his previous high of 60 set in 2007-08, his fourth season in the league. Doughty broke free with 60 points after reaching the 50-point plateau once in the previous seven seasons. Doughty’s usual defensive partner, Jake Muzzin, had 42 points. Even depth forward Trevor Lewis got into the act with 26 points and 14 goals in his most productive campaign.FORWARD THINKINGRookie Adrian Kempe was fourth on the team with 16 goals despite not finding the back of the net in the final 29 games of the regular season. Stepping in at center when Jeff Carter missed 55 games following surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle, Kempe showed a surprising toughness to go along with his natural quickness. If Kempe can continue to develop, he could decrease the reliance on Kopitar, who will be 31 when next season starts Patrick Kane Jersey , and the 33-year-old Carter.”I’m pretty sure he’ll be the first one to tell you he can offer more, and that’s a learning process,” Kopitar said. ”That’s his first full year in the league. Speaking from experience, it takes a little bit of time to figure out your routines and what’s working for you and what’s not.”LOOKING FOR DEPTHShort of dealing in the offseason, the Kings should return essentially the same roster next season. Speedy forward Tobias Rieder is a restricted free agent, and Torrey Mitchell is an unrestricted free agent. The 25-year-old Rieder showed some chemistry with Carter, posting four goals and two assists in 20 games. Defensemen Christian Folin and Kevin Gravel are both unrestricted free agents.HOME IMPROVEMENT NEEDEDThe Kings went 23-15-3 at home, the second-fewest wins by a playoff team. It seemed like they were getting better as the season went on, going 9-4-0 down the stretch, only to lose both home playoff games and fall to 0-5 at Staples Center in their last two postseasons. Their 118 goals at home in the regular season was tied for 21st in the NHL. The power play contributed 25 percent of that output, underscoring the need for 5-on-5 improvement.COMING ATTRACTIONClearly in need of more contributors on offense, center Gabriel Vilardi could be an option for the Kings next season. Selected No. 11 overall in the 2017 draft, Vilardi has been a force in the OHL playoffs with 11 goals and nine assists in his first 12 postseason games. Vilardi also has the size and 200-foot game that fit a Kings team that still emphasizes defense.—