Kings bounce back, stifle league-leading Winnipeg

LOS ANGELES — If there were top-25 polls in the NHL, the Kings would have had quite the quality win on Wednesday night, when they upended the NHL’s best team by nearly every quantitative measure this season, the Winnipeg Jets, in a 4-1 game they led wire to wire at Crypto.com Arena.

The Jets tied for the longest and second-longest win streaks in the league this season while also possessing its best points total, points percentage, goal-differential, power-play efficiency rate, save percentage, goal total and goals-against average.

None of that mattered to the Kings, who took a lead in the first two minutes of the game and never looked back, maintaining an aggressive bent even with a third-period lead.

Anże Kopitar, Phillip Danault, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe each scored for the Kings, who improved to 7-2-1 at home. Kempe and Kopitar both tacked on an assist, while Alex Laferriere chipped in two. David Rittich bounced back from his worst game of the season with a dandy, repelling 13 of Winnipeg’s season-low 14 shots for his 100th career win.

Three former Kings acquired in the Pierre-Luc Dubois traded suited up for Winnipeg: Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and their lone goal-scorer, Gabriel Vilardi. Connor Hellebuyck, whose 15 wins are four more than any other goalie, was saddled with his third loss of 2024-25, making 30 saves in defeat as Winnipeg lost for the fourth time in seven games since its 15-1-0 start to the season.

Where the third period brought calamity on Monday in the Kings’ 7-2 loss to the struggling Sharks in San Jose, it seemed to bring confidence and intrepidness against the Jets. The Kings kept their foot on the gas in all three zones and were rewarded with an insurance goal with 14:39 to play. They cemented their triumph with an empty-netter with 2:56 remaining, which Kempe lobbed in from distance for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. He now has 15 points in his past 13 games, and with his assist Kopitar moved his total to 18 points over the same span.

On the Kings’ first third-period goal, Fiala reversed the puck to Brandt Clarke during a breakout, sending the defender into open space. As he hit a traffic jam in the offensive zone, he dished to the trailing Fiala, whose shot caromed in off Winnipeg defenseman Hadyn Fleury’s skate. Fiala scored his seventh goal of the season, having scored his sixth on Nov. 5.

In the second period, one former King was stoned on a penalty shot and the other made good on his second of two-point blank chances, and in between the Kings got a goal to preserve their one-goal margin at the second intermission.

Though they killed their third penalty of the period – thanks in part to Josh Morrissey pinging the post – and stopped Kupari on a penalty shot just 2:58 into it, the Kings’ PK faltered at the 9:12 mark. Much like their own power-play goal, Winnipeg’s started with an offensive-zone faceoff win by the eventual goal-scorer, Vilardi, who received Nikolaj Ehlers’ pass at the goalmouth, making one effort and scoring on a second to slice the Jets’ deficit in half. Vilardi’s goal was his ninth of the year and his fourth with the man advantage.

The Kings had extended their lead 7:10 into the second period on a give-and-go play. Danault sent the puck ahead to Turcotte below the goal line, springing off the wall and cutting inside of Cole Perfetti with his stick banging on the ice to call for the return pass he received from Turcotte. Danault’s backhand bid was stopped by Hellebuyck, but Danault stuffed in the rebound for his second goal of the season and first since Nov. 2.

The Kings earned the game’s first power play and its first goal just four seconds later as they struck 1:52 after the puck drop.

Kopitar controlled the faceoff to Alex Laferriere, who tipped it to Kempe for a shot as Kopitar drifted toward the net while facing the shooter. His deflection beat Hellebuyck for the captain’s seventh tally of the season.

That was the only goal of a period the Kings carried in terms of scoring chances and possession as well. A knuckling puck that redirected off Danault’s skate at the last instant tested Hellebuyck, who had to be sharp in a frame where he faced 13 shots.

More to come on this story.