As they prepared to host the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Kings carried confidence from their last game but were decidedly less certain about which players would be available for them in Saturday’s showdown.

Four-game point streak interrupted Thursday’s 4-2 defeat to Vancouvera game that both teams describe as offering playoff intensity in early November. In that contest, the Kings lost two players: winger Tanner Jeannot due to a match suspension, and defenseman Mikey Anderson suffered a gruesome upper-body injury, falling face down on the ice and bleeding from his head.

Coach Jim Hiller told reporters on Friday that Anderson was “feeling good” and that the club was “optimistic” about his status, possibly even for Saturday’s game.

This update comes on the heels of news that Alex Turcotte’s upper-body injury is not the third serious concussion of his young professional career, and that Arthur Kaliyev (broken collarbone) has increased his participation, albeit in the same non-contact jersey. Turcotte.

Jeannot, on the other hand, was suspended for three games after a phone call with the NHL Department of Player Safety to discuss his first-period hit on Canucks winger and Kings kicker Brock Boeser. timeline for its return.

Hiller said after the Vancouver game that he did not expect Jeannot to be suspended, classifying the illegal check, which can also be called a charge or tackle, as an “instant reaction”. Clearly the league disagreed.

No matter which Kings group (they are also missing top defenseman Drew Doughty (ankle fracture) since early in the preseason) hits the ice against Columbus, they will have the determination to have historically dominated the Blue Jackets (39-21). ) -1-6), including wins in three straight matches and five of the last six.

Columbus managed to post a .500 scoring percentage despite low expectations and the weight of tragically losing top winger Johnny Gaudreau. he and his brother Matthew were killed by a drunk driver during the offseason.