LOS ANGELES -- Like so many in recent weeks, this Blue Jackets' loss wasn't about missed scoring chances or bad bounces of the puck.

A 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night in front of 15,235 in a half-filled and hush-quiet Staples Center was perhaps the low point of the Blue Jackets' season to this point.

Wayne Simmonds, Kyle Calder and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings, who had lost three in a row. Jason LaBarbera had 18 saves.

It was the Blue Jackets' first shutout loss of the season -- their first since the second-to-last game of last season -- and it pushed their record below .500 (11-12-3).

Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock was sour after a 3-2 loss Thursday in San Jose to the NHL's best club. Imagine his mood last night.

If the Blue Jackets are to make the playoffs, the logic goes that teams like the Kings will have to be left behind at some point soon. But last night's loss allowed Los Angeles to jump the Blue Jackets, who now reside in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Not that the standings will matter much longer if the Jackets have too many more clunkers like this one.

The Kings struck first at 2:39 of the second period, when the 20-year-old Simmonds scored his second career goal on a seemingly innocent wrist shot from the slot. Perhaps the puck caromed off Blue Jackets defenseman Christian Backman, but it appeared to catch Jackets goaltender Steve Mason off guard, sneaking over his glove and into the net.

The lead grew to 2-0 at 12:29 of the second period. Kopitar won a face-off back to Kyle Quincey, who immediately took a slap shot into traffic in front of Mason. Calder, tangled up with Jackets defenseman Jan Hejda, got his stick blade on the shot and redirected it through Mason.

Kopitar scored with 12.7 seconds remaining for the Kings' final goal.

The Blue Jackets' power play was again an exercise in futility. It went 0 of 4, but that doesn't tell the entire story.

The Kings created better chances short-handed than the Blue Jackets did on power plays. Really, Patrick O'Sullivan did all by himself, creating two breakaways.

At 9:21 of the first period, O'Sullivan broke loose out of his own zone, flipping a backhand shot that made it under Mason's right arm but clanged off the far post.

At 6:43 of the second period, O'Sullivan was on the loose again, this time resulting in a hooking penalty by Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore. Per NHL rules, a minor-penalty to prevent a breakaway is an automatic penalty shot. O'Sullivan fired wide of Mason to keep the game in reach.

The Jackets did have scoring chances. Trailing 1-0 midway through the second period, R.J. Umberger and Kristian Huselius had a look at LaBarbera, but Umberger passed on a clean shot and made one too many passes. It sailed over Huselius' stick and out of harm's way.

Only 1 minutes later, it was 2-0 Kings.

aportzline@dispatch.com