In Winnipeg, the Jets blew a two- goal lead on Tuesday night and ended up losing to the Los Angeles Kings, 6-5, on skills.
Anze Kopitar scored four goals fir the Kings, including a hat trick in the middle frame
“He had the hot hand. Anything he shot had a chance.” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “Not only did he get the four [goals], but he probably could have had six, so we’re really happy for him. Great leadership, stepping up and pulling us through at the back end of a trip when it doesn’t look real good. A lot of other guys followed him.”.
Josh Morrissey scored twice in the first period to give the Jets the 2-0 lead.
“I don’t have a huge problem with the way we competed and the way we played,” Morrissey said. “There’s some mistakes clearly that we need to clean up. Some tip goals and stuff like that, but the compete was there, the effort was there. It’s a team we are fighting with. It’s an intense game. You know, you get the lead and you want to keep it.”
Kopitar scored off a power play to cut the Jets lead to 2-1, but Kyle Connor got that back to make it 3-1 to the Jets.
“We made mistakes,” McLellan said. “Just not sharp when it comes to execution. They took advantage of it… I’m still disappointed, though, in some of our players, believe it or not. We can have that type of game, but we don’t have enough guys going right now. That’s got to change in the next 20 [games].”
Kopitar then tied it up for the Kings, 3-3 with his next two goals.
“[Kopitar’s] play overall, his thinking [in] all three zones is great and that’s why he’s been so successful for so long,” Kempe said. “He’s usually more of a passer but tonight he was red-hot, so we try to give him the puck as much as possible. He played great and is a great leader, just taking charge out there. It’s fun to see.”
Winnipeg dropped to 35-24-2.
“We had to attack the net tonight,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “It was a big thing we did yesterday and this morning — attack the net. And I thought we did a much better job of that. We gotta keep doing it. Greasy goals are scored right there. You’ve gotta get in there.”
Pheonix Copley made 26 saves in the Kings win
.”It was a big win,” Kopitar said. “Obviously happy to contribute [and] show the character that being down multiple times, coming back and ultimately win in the shootout. It’s two very big points for us.”
LA improved to 34-20-8.
Adrian Kempe had the deciding marker in the skills competition.
“We needed a comeback and it was one of these games where we didn’t play our best game,” Kempe said. “We’ve had some better games on the road lately, but it was a character win and we deserve two points.”
Kevin Stenlund scored two goals in the second period to put the Jets up, 5-3 headed to the third.
“We played a lot better than previous games,” Stenlund said. “We forechecked well, way better. We skated way better. So, we need to bring that the next game.”
Kopitar and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the third to get the teams even at 5-5 and force extra time, which solved nothing.
“The one thing we believe is that we can score, which is a nice change from years past,” McLellan said. “Keeping the puck out of the net is still a challenge for us for different reasons and we’re going to continue to work on that.
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in the Jets loss.
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