Depleted Kings hammered by struggling Jets
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Kings have had enough trouble scoring goals when they’re healthy, so being short-handed was a recipe for trouble no matter the opponent.
Mark Scheifele scored two goals, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jonathan Toews both ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts, and the Winnipeg Jets ended their 11-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the depleted Kings on Friday night.
The Kings, who lost for the 10th time in their past 14 games, were without captain Anže Kopitar (lower-body), winger Joel Armia (upper-body), Trevor Moore (upper-body) and Corey Perry (personal reasons).
The Jets were winless (0-7-4) since a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Dec. 13. It was their longest skid since the team moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011.
Namestnikov ended a 29-game goal drought, while Toews halted a 26-game scoring slump. Cole Koepke also scored for the Jets and Gabriel Vilardi had two assists. Eric Comrie made 23 saves.
Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 of the 16 shots he faced before he was replaced by Anton Forsberg to start the third period. Forsberg made three saves.
Namestnikov, who was a healthy scratch Thursday against Edmonton, tipped in a shot at 1:31 of the first period.
Logan Stanley took a one-timer from the left point that was tipped into the net by Namestnikov for a 1-0 lead at 1:31 of the first period. Namestnikov was a healthy scratch Thursday against Edmonton.
Koepke’s one-timer from the right circle with 1:55 left in the period made it 2-0, then Toews tapped in his fourth goal of the season 2:07 into the second frame to make it 3-0. A shot from Jets defenseman Colin Miller went off the skate of Kings forward Alex Laferriere, off the post and then behind Kuemper. Toews skated in and slapped the puck into the net.
Byfield was credited with a goal seven minutes later after a shot off the rush by Warren Foegele was tipped by Taylor Ward and off the skate of Byfield, and then into the net to cut it to 3-1. Winnipeg challenged for goaltender interference on Byfield, but the goal was upheld after a video review, resulting in a delay of game penalty on the Jets.
Winnipeg killed the penalty and then scored twice more before the end of the period.
Scheifele scored on a power play at 12:35 when his pass from behind the net bounced off Byfield’s skate and past Kuemper, giving Winnipeg a 4-1 lead. He followed with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season on a one-timer from the left circle with 43 seconds left in the period.
Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter picked up an assist for his first point in 18 games. Kyle Connor extended his point streak to five games with an assist.
UP NEXT
The Kings take on the rival Oilers in Edmonton on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.