Pierre-Luc Dubois continued his torrid start to the season, scoring twice including the game-winner as the Winnipeg Jets downed the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Thursday night for their fourth win in a row.
The Jets had a tough second period, but bounced back with two goals in the final frame for their second straight come from behind victory.
“The last couple games have been the same thing,” Kyle Connor said. “I think we could play a little better. We were a little sloppy in the second, just found a way to win though. We stuck with it. There’s no quit in that group.”
Despite the losses of Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele to COVID-19 protocols, the Jets revamped top line of Connor, Dubois, and Evgeny Svechnikov is still on a tear.
Connor had three assists in the victory and is now riding a five-game point streak. With his two tallies, Dubois now has a career high six-game point streak.
“Throughout my career I’ve had ups and downs,” Dubois said. “One thing that I’ve been working on is trying to be consistent. It’s a long season and I’ve gone stretches of not scoring for many games, and I’ve gone stretches scoring, and feeling good for a long period of time. It’s just about finding what you do right and just keep going with it.”
Connor Hellebuyck got the night off for the first time this season. His backup, Eric Comrie, made 30 saves for his fourth career win in his ninth career start. But it was his first appearance with the Jets since April of 2019, and his first victory with Winnipeg in over three years. Coincidently his last victory with the Jets also came against the Kings, playing in his hometown in front of friends and family.
“Let’s just say I had a lot of tickets in the building tonight,” said Comrie. “So, I wasn’t getting paid for this game. Played for the love of the game tonight, but it was a lot of fun having a lot of friends and family in the stands tonight. It meant a lot to me. It definitely gives you a little added boost.”
After opening the season with back-to-back losses, the Jets now have at least a point in their last five consecutive games, but they’ve still struggled to put in a full 60 minute effort.
“I thought we were really good in that first,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “There’s gonna be an answer and a push by their team. But I liked the way we played in the third. I thought we got back to how we played in the first.”
READ MORE: Blake Wheeler rejoins Winnipeg Jets after getting cleared from COVID-19 protocols
Dubois opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game, his wraparound beating Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
But a defensive breakdown led to Rasmus Kupari’s equalizer as the young Finn beat Jets Comrie, making his first start of the season.
Adrian Kempe would make it 2-1 early in the second after the Jets failed to clear the zone after multiple tries, and for the second straight night on the road, Winnipeg would need to rally in the third to win the game.
And rally they did. Andrew Copp tied the game on the power play early in the third before Dubois redirected a perfect pass from Connor in transition to put the Jets up for good.
Dubois now has six goals in seven games for the Jets this season. He scored just eight in 41 games after he was traded to Winnipeg from Columbus last season.
Copp’s goal was his fifth of the year while Connor assisted on all three Winnipeg goals to increase his point total on the season to 13, tied for second in the league with Alex Ovechkin.
READ MORE: Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor chosen 1st star of the week
Jets defenceman Nathan Beaulieu appeared in his 400th career NHL game.
The Jets wrap up the road trip Saturday evening in San Jose, looking for a fifth consecutive win. The Kings fall to 1-5-1 with the loss.
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