Captain Anze Kopitar scored one goal and one assist in his 1,200th NHL career match on Saturday to help the Kings win the Winnipeg Jets 3-2. Los Angeles ended 2-0-1 in a three-game road trip, losing to Edmonton Oilers on penalties last week and then beating Calgary Flames on penalties. “It was a difficult path,” McLellan said. “Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg is not an easy place to play for many reasons. Each team is a little different. They all have superstars who break the game. Great goalkeepers for the most part. Hard buildings Play in It’s not an easy itinerary. “This is what our team needs right now. We have to go through these moments to be better on the road for it. It could be Monday against Calgary, it could be two weeks from now, it could be to be the next I do not know where it will lead us, but we learn lessons as we go “. Adrian Kebe also had a goal and an assist and Gabriel Villardi scored his third goal of the season for the Kings (38-23-10), who have just lost three regular-season games in their last 18 away games (12- 3-3). Cal Petersen stopped 25 shots for Los Angeles, which hosts the Flames on Monday. Nikolaj Ehlers and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets, who started a three-game winning streak. Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for Winnipeg (33-27-10), which is 3-2-0 in their last five games. Winnipeg was 0 to 6 in power play and Los Angeles 1 to 3. “We have our opportunities,” Lowry said. “The goalkeeper played them well. I think in another game, we could have scored more, but that’s the way it is. It’s not easy to score. They did a good job in defense, the goalkeeper made key saves.” The Jets went into the game four points behind idle Vegas Golden Knights (80 points) for the last wildcard position in the Western Conference and three points behind the Dallas Stars, who were in San Jose for a game late Saturday. The Kings led 2-1 after the first period and 3-2 after the second. The Jets had the first power play of the game, but the tables turned and Kempe scored short hand at 2:21. The goal was reconsidered to see if he had kicked the elf in the net, but his 29th mark of the season stood. Ehlers equalized four minutes later when they burst on the left side of the ice and beat Petersen, but Copitar took advantage of Winnipeg’s overthrow and recorded his 18th of the season to regain the lead at 10:32. The visitors beat the Jets 19-6 in the opening period. Los Angeles increased its lead to 3-1 at 3:05 of the second, with Willard credited with a power-play goal after the nozzle fell off the skate of Winnipeg defender Josh Morrissey. Lowry closed the scoring 3-2 at 13:31 when he scored a rebound four seconds after a power play by Winnipeg. The Jets were in power play for the last three minutes of the second period due to the overlapping penalties of Los Angeles and had 1:05 with the advantage of the man to start the third. Winnipeg also had a power play eight minutes before the season and could not block a loose foul in front of the net and turn it into a goal. “Cal came up and played a great game,” said defender Sean Dourgee, who assisted on Copitar’s goal. “I sometimes thought we hung him up to dry and he obviously made the big stops for us, which was huge.” The Jets were left without top scorer Kyle Connor and defender Nate Schmidt for the third consecutive game, as they were in the protocol of the COVID-19 championship. They will have to be cleared by the time Winnipeg hosts Detroit Red Wins on Wednesday. “The program has been quite turbulent, so we hope they return with a lot of energy,” said Winnipeg striker Pierre-Luc Dubois.
