Time is running our for the Los Angeles Kings but on Thursday night they helped themselves a bit a 5-2 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
Marian Gaborik sparked a three-goal outburst in the third period to drive the win.
Ben Bishop made 19 saves to [pick up his first win with the Kings and help them improve to 35-31-7.
Anze Kopitar, Jake Muzzin, Drew Doughty, and Tanner Pearson also scored for LA.
“Especially the second and third periods, I felt we were holding on to the puck a lot better, making the plays, and just playing hockey, just reacting on the ice instead of thinking too much and kind of being hesitant,” said Kopitar, who had his second multipoint game in the past five. “Obviously, we’ve got to do more of the same in the next coming weeks.”
The problem for LA is they trail the Nashville Predators by eight points for the second wild card spot in the west.
The Jets could ill afford to lose either as they are now 12 points back of the wild card and only eight games to make up the distance.
“We have to find someone to get in front of the shooting lane,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “It was 2-2 going into the third. We have battled fairly hard on the road, then we got into the penalty box, and that was the end of it.”
Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine scored for the Jets.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Kings highlights
Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves in taking the loss as the Jets dropped to 33-34-7.
“We didn’t do a good enough job getting into shooting lanes. We were out of sync running around too much. They were composed and took the shots when they got them, and we weren’t able to get in front of them,” Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.