Jets fall 4-1 in lacklustre loss to Kings

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This article was published 28/11/2024 (312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — It’s important to remember the 82-game NHL regular season is a marathon, not a sprint, and the result of any single game should always be taken with a massive grain of salt.

That said, the Winnipeg Jets spent 60 minutes essentially jogging on the spot Wednesday night, unable to get going on any level as the Los Angeles Kings ran roughshod over them in a 4-1 victory at Crypto.com Arena.

“We didn’t have enough attack, we didn’t have enough continuous pressure, where it was maybe one line and then the next line going out and following that up,” Jets coach Scott Arniel told the Free Press. “We didn’t make their goaltender work.”

Indeed, the Jets mustered a season-low 14 shots on goal, including just two in the final period when you thought a push might be coming considering they were trailing. Former Jets backup David Rittich had a relatively easy night at the office in recording career win No. 100.

Arniel, in his first year at the helm of the Jets, was quick to point the finger of blame at himself.

“You know what, we were slow to get out again, and I’ll put that on me,” he said. “I’ve got to make sure that we push harder here.”

Winnipeg falls to 18-5-0 on the season, which is still the best record in the NHL. They are 2-2 so far on this season-long six-game road trip in which every game has been decided by the same final score. Los Angeles improves to 12-8-3.

Let’s break this one down further from our press box perch:

Flummoxed? Discombobulated? Bewildered? However you want to describe it, the Jets were a long way from their ‘A’ game that we’ve seen so often this season. It didn’t help that the Kings were coming off an embarrassing 7-2 loss on Monday to the rebuilding San Jose Sharks and were eager to get back to their defensively stalwart ways.

“We didn’t really have it all night, to be honest,” said forward Nino Niederreiter. “Maybe a couple minutes each period where we feel like we played our game, but overall, we just kind of were waiting. We’re hesitant. We didn’t play our game. And, I mean, LA was a desperate team, and we weren’t desperate enough.”

You’d have expected a bit more from a Jets club that didn’t like a lot about Monday’s outing in Minnesota, in which Connor Hellebuyck stole the show — and arguably two points — with a stellar 43-save effort. At Wednesday’s morning skate, the Jets spoke about needing to start stronger.

But a slashing penalty against Vlad Namestnikov at 1:48 of the first period ended up with an Anze Kopitar power play goal just four seconds later, courtesy of a deflected point shot that Hellebuyck had no chance on.

Phillip Danault made it 2-0 at 7:10 of the second period following some terrible puck management and zone coverage by the Jets. He was able to get an initial shot on Hellebuyck, then convert on his own rebound as Nikolaj Ehlers skated right by him.

Was it fatigue? Yes, the schedule has been difficult lately, as Winnipeg has already played in three different time zones on this trip. But Arniel gave them an unscheduled day away from the rink Tuesday to try and rest and recover.

“You can always say that it was tough traveling and all that. But at the same time, we had a good off day,” said Niederreiter. “Yesterday, we recharged our batteries, and I think it was more about us not being ready to play then not being recharged.”

A brief sign of life: It wasn’t all gloom and doom for the Jets, as they actually played a decent second period. Gabe Vilardi, facing the organization which traded him as part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal 17 months ago, scored his ninth of the year just seconds into a Winnipeg power play to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 9:12.

The Jets had several other great chances in the frame, including a partial breakaway by Niederreiter and a clear-cut solo dash by Rasmus Kupari which resulted in a penalty shot after Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke slashed him.

Kupari couldn’t beat Rittich.

“That was my first penalty shot in the NHL. Actually, I had one in a charity game this summer back in Finland, which I scored. I used the same move,” said Kupari.

Josh Morrissey and Cole Perfetti also rang shots off the post in the period as the Jets were inches away from evening it up.

But that would be all they could muster, as Los Angeles completely locked it down in the final frame and gave Winnipeg absolutely nothing. Kevin Fiala increased the lead to 3-1 at 5:21, and then Adrian Kempe scored an empty-netter at 17:04.

“Somehow today they killed our speed,” said Kupari.

“We couldn’t really get our forecheck going that well, like we would like to, we didn’t create too many chances today. We only scored one goal and they’re a very tough team to play against. Whenever we face them next time we’ve got to find ways to be at our best and beat them.”

Although he’s too modest to say it, Kupari was a noticeable exception. He was using his motor all night long, not only to draw the penalty shot but two other minor penalties as well.

“That’s my biggest thing,” said Kupari, who was part of that Dubois trade along with Alex Iafallo. “I gotta just keep using that every single game and could get results like that, draw penalties or create some chances for myself or my teammates. I gotta keep that up.”

The Scheifele problem: Something is clearly ailing Winnipeg’s top centre, who once again didn’t take a single faceoff on the night and didn’t register a shot on goal, either. Neither did linemate Kyle Connor, for that matter. Those two have a combined 25 goals this season, but you’re not going to score if you’re not even shooting.

The Jets are being tight-lipped about whatever is physically going on with Mark Scheifele, who keeps getting Vilardi to take the draws. Whether it’s a shoulder or a wrist or something else, he’s definitely not 100 per cent.

And when you factor in the Jets are also without shutdown defenceman Dylan Samberg due to a broken foot, it suddenly feels like they have more than just one significant hole in the lineup.

At this point, it appears Scheifele is going to continue playing through whatever this is.

Key play: Fiala’s goal early in the third period put this one to bed, as the Jets were not going to overcome a two-goal deficit with the way they were skating in quicksand.

Three stars:

1. Los Angeles C Anze Kopitar: 1 goal, 1 assist ;

2. Los Angeles RW Adrian Kempe: 1 goal, 1 assist;

3. Los Angeles RW Alex Laferriere: 2 assists.

Extra, extra: The Jets went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Kings went 1-for-2.

Winnipeg was outhit by a 32-18 margin on the night.

Hellebuyck stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced.

Jets scratches were once again defenceman Dylan Coghlan (23 straight games) and forward David Gustafsson (22 of 23 games).

Winnipeg flew to Las Vegas following the game and will practice there on Thursday morning to get ready for Friday’s game against the Golden Knights.

“At the end of the day, you’re the hunted team, right?” said Niederreiter.

“We’re the first place team, and everyone (comes) after us, and you have to make sure we bring our best every single night to be successful. And we shouldn’t. Didn’t do it tonight, and that’s why they got us.”

The Jets then wrap up this epic journey on Sunday afternoon in Dallas.

“There’s one big game coming after another. So, we got to be on our best,” said Niederreiter.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg