Anze Kopitar has 100th goal, then adds another, in Kings’ 4-1 win over Blue Jackets

Kopitar’s 2 goals power Kings, 4-1

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Anze Kopitar scored his 100th and 101st career goals and the Los Angeles Kings tied a season high with their fourth straight win, 4-1 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Jonathan Quick was at his best during a Columbus blitz in the opening 2 minutes, stopping seven shots at the outset on his way to 29-save night.

Matt Greene and Ryan Smyth also scored for the Kings, who have won four straight for the fourth time this season.

The Kings came in with the league’s sixth-best road record and are now 17-10-1. They have won five straight on the road.

Antoine Vermette ended Quick’s shutout with his 17th goal midway through the third period.

Kopitar has points in each game of the Kings’ winning streak, during which he has three goals and four assists.

With Los Angeles up 1-0 late in the second period, Kopitar scored goal No. 100 in his 289th career game. Wayne Simmonds’ stretch pass to Smyth ignited a Kings rush. Smyth then dropped a pass to Kopitar, who carried the puck right to left through the high slot and then wristed a hard shot that beat goalie Steve Mason on the stick side.

Kopitar scored again — for his 22nd of the season — with a second left on a power play after the Blue Jackets had already killed 1:33 of a two-man disadvantage by lifting a rebound of his own shot into the top of the net.

Quick did most of his work before most of the fans had found their seats.

The Blue Jackets swarmed Quick in the opening two minutes, putting up seven shots. most from close-in, in a span of 50 seconds.

The Kings, down 12-4 in shots, then got on the board with their fifth shot. Alexander Frolov took control of the puck in a scrum in the left corner and tossed the puck back to Greene at the right point. His shot appeared to change direction after hitting a Blue Jackets player, getting through traffic in front of the net to beat Mason.

Dustin Brown passed to Smyth in the crease at 4:05 of the third, Smyth getting a stick on the puck in heavy traffic to make it 3-0.

Vermette picked up a loose puck off the stick of teammate Kristian Huselius and finally got one past Quick at 10:38 of the third.

It was another disappointing effort for Mason. The winner of last season’s Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year, Mason has not won consecutive starts since Oct. 17, the sixth game of the season. He is now 13-18-6.

NOTES: The Blue Jackets were 10-2-1 in their last 13 home meetings with the Kings, since 2002-2003. … Greene’s goal was only his second of the year in 49 games. … R.J. Umberger had four of Columbus’ shots in the early surge and had five shots in the opening period. … After being outshot 14-7 in the opening period, the Kings held an 8-4 edge in the second. … The Kings improved to 20-0 when leading through two periods.