After unraveling during the second period of Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, the Kings moved on to Columbus for a Friday meeting with the resurgent Blue Jackets and sizzling sniper Patrik Laine.

Acting coach Trent Yawney and rookie winger Arthur Kaliyev described Wednesday’s defeat as a 60-minute game that they lost in that 20-minute span, as Dallas struck in the first minute and twice in the final minute of their four-goal middle frame.

“The second period was what killed us. We sat back, we made a lot of turnovers, we didn’t get our forecheck going and it cost us badly,” Kaliyev said. “We got sloppy in the D zone, out of position a bit. We were making turnovers and I think penalties killed us a lot, too.”

Kaliyev was a bright spot for the Kings, as he scored two goals in that same stanza and nearly completed a hat trick with a late-game equalizer.

Yawney said that the shots on Kaliyev’s two goals – a deceptive one that went between the legs of defending forward Joe Pavelski and then a heavy one-timer –– were a sound snapshot of his skill set, but that his all-around game had progressed considerably. On Kaliyev’s first goal, he also made the defensive play that initiated the rush that resulted in the Kings’ second lead of the evening.

Yet Kaliyev’s calling card will remain his shot, not unlike the Kings’ most prominent opponent in their match with Columbus.

Laine, who arrived in Columbus early last season in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets, had been hampered by injuries and mixed form during his time with the Blue Jackets. The winger had scored 80 goals in his first two campaigns with Winnipeg, and 58 more in his next two. But with Columbus, Laine had scored a decidedly less impressive 16 goals in 67 games across two seasons in which he missed action.

He has since rebounded impressively this season from an oblique injury, helping Columbus capture eight of its past 11 games. Since Jan. 13, Laine has scored as many goals (16) as any other NHL player and he has scored the most goals of any player, 14 in 13 games, since Jan. 30. From his first multipoint game after returning from injury onward, the Blue Jackets have gone 10-4-0. He has posted 38 points in 35 games overall.

Forward Boone Jenner leads Columbus in scoring for the season, with 43 points in 54 games. Jakub Voracek, who returned via trade to the organization that drafted him last summer after spending a decade with the Philadelphia Flyers, ranks second with 40 points in 52 contests.

Columbus was busy over the offseason, also sending defenseman Seth Jones to Chicago in a massive trade that left Zach Werenski as the Blue Jackets’ clear-cut No. 1 defenseman. Werenski is questionable to play Friday with an upper-body injury.

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In goal, Latvian Elvis Merzlikins has received the lion’s share of starts. His countrymen, fellow Riga native and aspiring Columbus goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, died in an offseason accident in Michigan. Merzlikins has said Kivlenieks likely saved the lives of Merzlikins and his pregnant wife during a fireworks mishap. Merzlikins and his wife, Aleksandra, named their son Knox Matiss Merzlikins in honor of Kivlenieks.

Kings (29-19-7) at Columbus (28-25-1)

When: 4 p.m. Friday

Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus

TV/Radio: Bally Sports West/iHeartRadio