On Saturday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets battled back twice to tie Anaheim in Orange County, Calif., but the Ducks scored with 3:29 left in the third period to beat Columbus, 4-3. It was the sixth loss for the Blue Jackets in their last six outings, sending them into solo last place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

Anaheim started the game with two goals just three minutes into the action. The shots that found the net, from Mikael Granlund and Jacob Trouba, were the second and third faced by Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on the night.

The Blue Jackets were able to tie the game 2-2 after goals from Dmitri Voronkov later in the first period and Mason Marchment in the second. Marchment had just joined the team after a trade with the Seattle Kraken for two draft picks.

Mason McTavish put the Ducks back on top with a goal later in the second. In the third, Zach Werenski tied the game at the 12:44 mark, snapping a shot from the left circle past Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal. Werenski, who helped on the Voronkov score, now leads the team with 14 goals and 26 assists.

Unfortunately for Werenski, and the Blue Jackets, he was injured with three minutes left in the contest when he blocked a shot from Anaheim’s Troy Terry off his ankle. Werenski crawled off the ice and is listed as day-to-day.

Pavel Mintyukov scored Anaheim’s game-winning goal. It was the defenseman’s fourth goal of the season. Merzlikins ended the night making 24 saves on 28 shots (.857), suffering his sixth loss of the season.

Columbus gets the day off Sunday before traveling north to Los Angeles to take on the Kings Monday. The puck drops at Crypto.com Arena at 10:00 p.m. EST. The Blue Jackets then get five days off for the Christmas break. The New York Islanders come to town on Sunday, Dec. 28 for a game beginning at 5:00 p.m.