'We are the hunted team': Jets cooling off after sizzling start

6 days ago

Winnipeg Sun

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Published Nov 28, 2024 • 3 minute read

Phillip Danault of the Los Angeles Kings scores against Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets in the second period at Crypto.com Arena on November 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Ronald Martinez /Getty Images North America

For the second straight game the Winnipeg Jets came out flat, only this time their star goaltender couldn’t stand on his head until they woke up.

Winnipeg Jets - Figure 1 — Photo Winnipeg Sun

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Truth is, they never did fully wake up in Los Angeles on Wednesday, dropping a 4-1 decision to a Kings team that made the top squad in the NHL look very ordinary.

Coming off an emotional win over rival Minnesota two days earlier, the Jets got little going against L.A., managing just 14 shots on goal.

“We didn’t really have it all night,” Nino Niederreiter told reporters on the scene. “We were waiting, we were hesitant. LA was a desperate team, and we weren’t desperate enough.”

Trailing 2-1 early in the third period, the Jets’ fate was all but sealed when the Kings’ Kevin Fiala banked a pass/shot off Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury’s skate and behind Connor Hellebuyck.

The Kings counted on their tight-checking the rest of the way, even holding the NHL’s top-rated power play without a shot on goal during a third-period Jets man advantage.

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“We were too slow,” Rasmus Kupari said. “Gave up way too many chances. Somehow they just killed our speed.”

Winnipeg’s only goal came from Gabriel Vilardi on a second-period power play.

Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault had staked the Kings to a 2-0 lead.

Adrian Kempe added a late empty-netter, as the Jets fell to 3-4 in their last seven games, after a sizzling 15-1 start.

“We are the hunted team,” Niederreiter said. “And you have to make sure we bring our best every single night to be successful. Didn’t do it tonight, and that’s why they got us.”

The Jets are still 18-5 overall, 9-4 on the road.

L.A. improves to 12-8-3, 7-2-1 at home.

Head coach Scott Arniel took the responsibility for his team’s poor starts the last two games.

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“We were slow to get out again, and I’ll put that on me again,” he said, citing an inability to create any sustained pressure or zone time. “I’ve got to make sure that we push harder. Give L.A. credit, they moved us out of there. But that’s an area that we’re usually pretty strong at. We really got away from it.”

Special teams were prominent over the first 40 minutes.

The league’s 27th-ranked power play needed just four seconds to get on the board.

Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov had barely sat down to serve his slashing penalty when Kopitar tipped a point shot past Hellebuyck less than two minutes into the game.

The Jets were out-shot 9-1 through the first half of the first period, and the shot gap ballooned to 13-2 at one point, the Kings looking far more energetic and dangerous.

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The Jets got a potential injection of energy early in the second when Kupari, a former King, was slashed on a breakaway and handed a penalty shot for the first time in his career.

Kupari’s stickhandling didn’t fool former Jets backup goalie David Rittich, though, and it remained 1-zip, L.A.

The Kings went right back to work, Danault left alone in front of Hellebuyck long enough to bang his own rebound home.

A second-period power play finally got the Jets on the board, Vilardi, another former King, scoring his ninth of the year from his usual spot right on the doorstep.

Winnipeg came close to tying it before the second was up when Cole Perfetti, in a 10-game scoring drought, rang a shot off the goal post.

Minutes later Josh Morrissey found some iron on a Jets power play, but it remained a one-goal Kings lead going into the third.

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Shots were 24-12 through two, 33-14 at the final horn.

Unlike Monday in Minnesota, the Jets didn’t take over the final 20.

Up next for Winnipeg, a Friday night date with the Golden Knights in Vegas. They’ll close out the trip with a Sunday matinee in Dallas.

That’ll mark their ninth road outing in 10 games.

But Niederreiter says tired legs are no excuse for what happened on Wednesday.

“You can always say that it was tough travelling and all that,” he said. “But at the same time, we had a good off day (on Tuesday). We recharged our batteries. It was more about us not being ready to play than not being recharged.”

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