With Kyle Connor sidelined for 6-8 weeks, the Winnipeg Jets turned to their new-look top line to provide all the offence as the Jets rallied from an early deficit to down the Kings 5-2 in Los Angeles Wednesday night.
After falling behind by two goals early, the Jets rode a tremendous three-goal second period for their fifth win in their last six games to finish the trip with a bang.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice and added a pair of assists, while Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and three assists against his former team in his first game back in L.A. after being traded over the summer.
“It was really weird,” said Vilardi. “First time on this side. Yeah, it was really weird going out for warmups, but then once the game starts it’s just hockey.
“It feels good. Especially, like, we won. That’s a great win for us coming off a tough loss last night in San Jose. Nobody was happy with that result and to come in and obviously beat the Kings who are one of the best teams in the NHL, so, big win.”
It was Vilardi’s first career four-point game.
“He was fantastic tonight,” said Mark Scheifele who had two goals and an assist. “He was unbelievable. He made a lot of really nice plays.”
The Jets top line of Ehlers, Vilardi and Scheifele combined for eleven points to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss to complete the back-to-back.
“We got some tremendous efforts,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “The Scheifele line speaks for itself, but don’t ever forget that backcheck that Adam Lowry gave us in that second period. That was absolutely huge shorthanded. The big shot block by Nate Schmidt in the third. Like all those little details that we talk a lot about, you could see those.”
It was the first time all season the Kings lost a game in regulation when leading after 20 minutes.
The Jets held them to just eight shots in the final frame while protecting the lead. And the Jets have now gone six straight games without allowing three goals in a game.
“We wanted to do something good on this road trip and we did,” Ehlers said. “To come into Denver and and L.A. here and take four points, that’s pretty good.”
The Jets were 0-for-2 on the man advantage and didn’t score a single power play goal the entire road trip and are now 0-for-17 over their last four plus games.
After going with eleven forwards and seven defence to start the back-to-back, the Jets returned to the traditional twelve and six as Logan Stanley came out of the lineup for Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.
Defenceman Dylan DeMelo appeared in his 500th career NHL game.
The Kings got the game’s first power play when Schmidt was assessed a questionable cross-checking penalty, and they took full advantage.
As Anze Kopitar tried to skate the puck towards the crease, Dylan Samberg fell into his path because he was cross-checked by Adrian Kempe. The puck got lost in Samberg’s skate and Kopitar was the first to find it, potting it past Connor Hellebuyck to open the scoring at the 9:39 mark.
Bowness and captain Adam Lowry gave the officials an earful after the goal, believing there should have been a penalty called on Kempe.
The Kings made it 2-0 less than three minutes later when Alex Laferriere’s shot from below the goal line banked into the net off the mask of Hellebuyck.
A questionable roughing call on Kempe with 16 seconds left in the period gave Winnipeg most of a power play chance to start the second, though the Jets couldn’t cash in.
Los Angeles got a second power play opportunity just over three minutes into the second and had several good chances that were denied by Hellebuyck, which proved to be huge because the Jets started turning things around.
Ehlers got Winnipeg on the board at the 6:08 mark when he took a pass from Vilardi in the slot and wired a shot past Cam Talbot.
It was Ehlers again just over 13 minutes into the frame when he took a pass from Vilardi in stride, bursting into the Kings end and blowing a shot over the shoulder of Talbot to tie the game.
Winnipeg’s strong push continued, leading to the go-ahead goal just 1:41 after the Ehlers goal. It was again the top line getting it done as Scheifele collected a loose puck at the side of the goal after a scramble in front and banked it in off of Talbot to put the Jets ahead.
Early in the third, the career night of Vilardi continued. After tallying three assists in the second, in his first game back in Los Angeles since he was traded to Winnipeg in the summer, Vilardi took a pass from DeMelo and roofed a backhander past Talbot 2:30 into the third to double Winnipeg’s lead.
From there, the Jets locked things down defensively, allowing just eight total shots in the final frame. Scheifele picked up an empty-netter right before the final buzzer, assisted by Ehlers as the top line put a bow on a phenomenal offensive display.
Hellebuyck wound up making 30 saves for the win, his ninth straight start allowing two goals or fewer. Talbot gets saddled with the loss after stopping 24 shots.
The Jets will now return home to face the Colorado Avalanche Saturday night.