The Winnipeg Jets experience their second straight slow start to a game and couldn’t find their way out of it as they lost 4-1 to Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Wednesday.
It was a rough night for the Jets offence as they severely struggled generating chances as they finished with 14 shots on net. Rasmus Kupari was one of the few standout players for the Jets although he didn’t record a point, he drew three penalties, including a penalty shot.
The Kings on the other hand were firing on all cylinders with three of their four forward lines contributing a goal. LA’s Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Alex Laferriere all had big nights with each player recording two points.
The Kings started off the game with more jump as they entered the zone with a couple of fast break chances but couldn’t break the ice for the first goal. It wasn’t until they drew an early penalty off Vladislav Namestnikov, who has been struggling with the amount of penalties he’s been taking lately.
LA didn’t waste the opportunity as they won the face off in the Jets end and worked the puck to the point where Laferriere takes a quick shot on net that Kopitar redirects past netminder Connor Hellebuyck for the games first goal, just seconds into the power play and minutes into the game.
The Jets hopefully can find a solution for their slow starts as of late as they’ve been outshot 35 to 12 in the first period of their last two games. The second period started off with the Jets looking to regain some of the momentum as they managed to create a couple early chances but the Kings quickly evaporated any hopes of a goal when they added to their lead out of nowhere.
LA worked the puck in deep where Phillip Danault caught the Jets defence off guard and had a clear lane to the net. Laferriere finds a wide-open Danault making his way towards the net and gives him a pass that leads to a quick move to his backend from Danault.
The first shot is saved from Hellebuyck but when no other Jet defender is around, Danault picks up his own rebound and squeaks it past Hellebuyck for an easy goal making it 2-0 for LA.
Winnipeg needed to wake up and start playing their game and the opportunity came when Tanner Jeannot takes a costly slashing penalty and puts the Jets on the man advantage.
Much like LA’s first goal, it doesn’t take long for Winnipeg to respond as Nikolaj Ehlers finds Gabe Vilardi in front of the net as he quickly peels off a goalie screen to make create space for a shot but Kings netminder David Rittich makes a poke check and knocks the puck loose.
Vilardi gets back to the puck before a Kings player can and quickly finds an opening on Rittich and fires home the puck to cut the deficit to one.
It woke Winnipeg up as they had life and began using some physicality to put the pressure on the Kings. They were outshot again in the second but the Jets ended off the period much better than the first and had some hope rolling into the third only down one goal.
The third period was even for the first few minutes with both sides breaking in and out of the zone. It wasn’t until six minutes into the period when Winnipeg’s luck ran out as a Kevin Fiala shot on net through traffic. The puck takes a fluky bounce off two separate Jets and redirects past Hellebuyck for the Kings third goal of the game and extended their lead to 3-1 with just under 15 minutes left in regulation.
The bizarre goal started to sink the Jets confidence as they couldn’t register a shot on net for the first 15 minutes of the period despite recieving a power play at one point.
Kings winger Trevor Moore almost fired one past Hellebuyck but the puck dinged off the right post and crossbar.
The game was capped off with an Adrian Kempe empty net goal. It was empathic win for the Kings where they showed they have a stellar offence that is capable of backing up their elite defence while the Jets will need to go back to the drawing board.
Winnipeg will need to examine what is causing these ebbs and flows in their momentum as they recorded just two shots in the third period when they needed to be at their best. Winnipeg will look to hopefully get back in the win column on Friday when taking on the Vegas Golden Knights in a Sin City showdown.
