If only their team had followed suit.

With chants of "Wake up, Jackets!" -- instead of "Let's go, Jackets!" -- the mood for the evening was set.

The Blue Jackets lost 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings last night in front of 15,145, many of whom headed out into an ice storm rather than stick around for yet another "Kiss Cam." The days of giggling in lieu of wins appear to have passed.

"I can't explain it," captain Rick Nash said. "It was a terrible effort."

Coach Ken Hitchcock, who rarely speaks to the team en masse after a game, had a few choice words after this one. He passed along what must have been the filtered version.

"I told them, this is really disappointing," Hitchcock said. "We've not done this at home all year. We've never played like this at home.

"It's disappointing. For me personally, and I know for the players, and for (president Mike Priest) and (general manager Scott Howson), it's really disappointing. We owe the fans something on (Saturday against Philadelphia), a lot better than this. And we'll give you that."

Patrick O'Sullivan, Raitis Ivanans and Peter Harrold scored for the Kings, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves. That's two players who hadn't scored all season (Ivanans and Harrold) and a goaltender who had only one career NHL win and was in the minor leagues last season.

It marked the second straight game in which the Blue Jackets have been shut out, the first time that has happened since Jan. 3 and Jan. 6, 2004, nearly five years ago. The Jackets have been shut out in both of their losses to the Kings this season.

"They have a ton of skill, they work really hard and they execute," Jackets center Michael Peca said. "And as bad as we've been in the two games, they've been good. That's why it seems so lopsided."

The Blue Jackets chased the puck in their end, giving up at least eight 2-on-1 rushes. The Kings generated 42 shots on goal, including 21 in the second period.

Meanwhile, the Jackets played in the Kings' zone as if the puck were square.

The final shots-on-goal count was deceiving. At times, it read 11-2, 25-10 and 33-13 in favor of the Kings.

"They wanted it more," left winger Kristian Huselius said. "We tried to get it to the net. We tried to get shots through. We tried to get the puck into scoring areas. Especially when they got the lead, they just played really smart defensively. They didn't give up much."

The closest the Blue Jackets came to scoring was on a redirected goal by Nash with 10:01 left in the third period.

Officials on the ice ruled that Nash's stick was not higher than the crossbar when he tipped the puck, but the goal was reviewed and disallowed.

"It seems like the way it's going, it wouldn't be a goal," Nash said. "It was close. I thought I was underneath, but it was close. We could have used it for sure. But we got buried right from the start, right from the drop of the puck. We can't play that way at home."

aportzline@dispatch.com