The Winnipeg Jets are in the middle of their longest road trip of the season and are happy with what they’ve achieved so far.
The Jets will look to keep their strong play going when they face the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Winnipeg has won two of the first three games on their six-game road trip, including a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
The Jets started the season strong, winning 15 of their first 16 games. However, they had lost three of five games before their matchup with the Wild, who were just four points behind Winnipeg in the Central Division.
“Yeah, it’s a big, big step, but obviously we’ve got to work on some things,” said Winnipeg forward Alex Iafallo, who scored twice in Saint Paul, Minn. “But, going forward, I think it’s a big win for us, and especially on the road. Finishing off that third period is huge for us — and building that momentum of hard plays and doing it right to the end.”
Iafallo, who played his first six NHL seasons with the Kings, has found a spot on Winnipeg’s fourth line alongside Rasmus Kupari and Morgan Barron. Kupari, a former first-round pick by the Kings, spent his first three seasons in Los Angeles.
The Jets also welcomed back defenseman Ville Heinola on Monday after he missed 22 months recovering from two ankle surgeries. He recorded two shots on goal and had a hit in 12:14 of ice time against the Wild.
“There were a lot of things that I liked,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel about Heinola’s performance. “He has patience and poise. We know that. Especially on the breakouts and things like that.”
The Kings will be eager to get back on the ice after a tough 7-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
The game was tied 2-2 going into the third period, but the Kings gave up three goals in the first four minutes of the period.
“We completely fell apart in the third period,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller. “That’s just unacceptable, what happened in the third. So we can talk about the first 40 (minutes), but it’s washed away with that third period.”
Two of the Sharks’ five goals in the third period came on the power play. The Kings have allowed 16 goals on their penalty kill, which is tied for the fifth most in the NHL.
“We went through this at the beginning of the year,” said Hiller. “We took too many penalties. The coach doesn’t have too many options but to take ice time away, that’s basically it. We had got ahold of it pretty good; we’ve had a pretty good run of not giving up a lot of power plays. (On Monday), we were careless, but it just goes with our mindset, particularly in the third period.”
Los Angeles will turn to some of its most experienced players to help bounce back against Winnipeg.
Anze Kopitar has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in his last seven games. He has reached 25 points in a season for the 19th time in his career, becoming the 32nd NHL player to do so.
Adrian Kempe had two assists against the Sharks, marking his 77th multipoint game, which ties Jari Kurri for the 19th-most multipoint games in team history.
