They didn’t see this coming.

They carried the usual positivity into the season, which usually gets ruined by the first few losses. But the Kings aren’t there yet, nor did they predict being here, at 6-0-1.

Not after Anze Kopitar reached out and lifted them to a 6-4 win Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets that kept the Kings the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.

“No matter how good your team is, you never really envision that,” Drew Doughty said. “You can feel like you have the best team in the world and you probably think you’re going to lose at least one or two games in the first eight or nine games.”


Said Dustin Brown: “I don’t think you ever think [that]. It’s the NHL. You don’t expect to come out like that.”

Brown played a big part in setting up Kopitar’s two goals. He outworked two defenders down low to get the puck to Kopitar for a strike in the first period, and he found Kopitar back door for the game-winning goal with 2 minutes 14 seconds remaining.

Brown scored an empty-net goal and had three assists. He and Kopitar have scored 11 of the Kings’ 27 goals.

“It was kind of an up-and-down game, but they stayed with it and it’s not surprising they were the ones that put the puck in the net at the end of the game,” coach John Stevens said. “It’s really good to see from those guys. I think they’ve taken a leadership role from day one.”


This is the first time the Kings have won six of their first seven games, and they tied their longest streak to start a season without a regulation loss, also done in 1995-96 at 4-0-3.

It looked iffy when Columbus tied the score 4-4 on Sonny Milano’s unassisted goal that negated what had been a textbook road period by the Kings, who got goals by Doughty and Jake Muzzin in the first four minutes of the second period to subdue the 15,329 at Nationwide Arena.

Muzzin wristed the puck in through a screen, and Doughty deflected Brown’s shot that was sent from just inside the blue line. It knuckled over goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

“To be honest, I was a little surprised that I even got a piece of it, but a good play by Brownie,” Doughty said. “It was kind of a flick shot, that’s why I was kind of able to see it to tip it. But it was a smart play.”


The Kings trailed 3-2 after an opening period that neither team will put on its highlight videos. Trevor Lewis lifted a backhand past Bobrovsky, and Columbus’ Matt Calvert and Oliver Bjorkstrand got their first goals of the season.

The teams were even in the third period. Then Kopitar snuck behind the defense. Lewis created the initial change of possession and Alex Iafallo drove to the net.

“He kept the play alive for a good five seconds, to allow us to get on the ice,” Brown said of Iafallo. “I kind of snuck in behind coverage. I knew Kopi was coming in off the bench behind me, so I just waited.”

An eastern Canada trip awaits the Kings, who have sustained missing pieces throughout this start. Saturday was their first game without Jeff Carter. They also played Brooks Laich in Laich’s first NHL game since April 9, 2016.


Stevens didn’t buy in to their adaption so much as winning without their best game.

“We have to reset every game here, and understand that we gave up four goals tonight,” Stevens said. “You usually don’t win when you give up four goals, so we’ve got to learn from that. … We told our guys, a win is a win, and I think the guys found a way to win.”

curtis.zupke@latimes.com

Twitter: @curtiszupke