LA Kings Winnipeg Jets

Despite scoring three unanswered goals in the first period, the LA Kings dropped a frustrating game to the Winnipeg Jets, 6-4, on Thursday night.

Scoring

1st Period

WPG – Mark Scheifele (5), Unassisted

LAK – Arthur Kaliyev (2) (Power Play), Assists: Trevor Moore (6), Sean Durzi (4)

LAK – Blake Lizotte (2), Assists: Carl Grundstrom (1), Brendan Lemieux (3)

LAK – Gabriel Vilardi (6), Assists: Kevin Fiala (6)

WPG – Adam Lowry (1) (Shorthanded), Assists: David Gustafsson (2), Dylan DeMelo (1)

2nd Period

WPG – Pierre-Luc Dubois (3) (Power Play), Assists: Kyle Connor (3), Josh Morrissey (6)

WPG – Nate Schmidt (1), Assists: Adam Lowry (4), Morgan Barron (1)

3rd Period

LAK – Trevor Moore (1), Assists: Phillip Danault (1)

WPG – Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (1), Assists: Brenden Dillon (2)

WPG – Blake Wheeler (1) (Empty Net), Assists: Morgan Barron (2), Josh Morrissey (7)

Takeaways from Thursday’s contest:

Puck Possession Period

What if I told you that the Kings had the puck 86 percent of the time in 5v5 play during the first period? It was, by all means, one of the most dominant periods of hockey the LA Kings have put together in the early stages of the year.

Despite allowing a breakaway goal five minutes into the game, Todd McLellan’s group responded with a powerplay goal from Arthur Kaliyev, Blake Lizotte 66 seconds later, and Gabe Vilardi less than four minutes after.

That said, the Kings allowed the Jets to hang around, giving up a shorthanded goal just 12 seconds into their powerplay late in the first period, bringing Winnipeg within one goal heading into the first intermission.

“12% of our schedule is gone, and we still don’t know how we want to play. I would think the experiment of run and gun that we’re trying to play, like how much more evidence do we need that it doesn’t work,” the Kings’ head coach said after the game. “There are simple hockey principles, you don’t turn pucks over at the line, you get pucks in deep, you forecheck, short shifts. The penalties that we’re taking are unacceptable, so there’s a lot of game management situations that go into it, and unless the group decides as a whole, we’ll experiment for another ten games.

“Maybe we will become the run-and-gun team. I don’t like our chances, but if that’s how we want to play and that’s what we’re going to keep trying, we’re probably going to keep getting the same results,” McLellan added.

Defensive Lapses Continue

For the seventh time in nine games, the Kings allowed at least four goals. As McLellan alluded to, the run-and-gun style of hockey that the Kings have been attempting to play isn’t working.

After a first period that saw Winnipeg control the puck very little, it was frustrating, to say the least, heading into the locker room with only a one-goal lead.

“The first one, stuff like that happens, and we were still going, we scored three goals, and then we proceeded to give up a shorthanded goal. That should not happen,” Anze Kopitar said.

As for what the team needs to do on Saturday:

“It’s just playing more responsible,” he added.

Going back to the third period of the Lightning game, we saw the Kings commit to a defensive shutdown as Tampa was unable to generate any high-danger chances for. However, none of that defensive structure carried over into Thursday’s game.

It’ll be interesting to see how much longer general manager Rob Blake and company wait this out before bringing reinforcements up from Ontario, namely Jacob Moverare or Tobias Bjornfot, or making a trade to shore up the back end. Something has to give.

Of course, the goaltending is a whole ‘nother issue.

First Line in Flux

For the second consecutive offseason, the LA Kings had a formidable top line… on paper. If you recall, when the team acquired Viktor Arvidsson, he was given a chance to stick on the first line. After about ten games or so, he found a home on the second line.

It’s still early, but the trio of Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar, and Kevin Fiala just isn’t working right now. Kempe has picked up where he left off last year, already with five goals on the year. However, Kopitar and Fiala have combined for just two.

In fact, McLellan elevated Vilardi to the top line in the third period to see if that could get something, anything going, but the Kings were unable to complete the comeback as an empty-net dagger sealed it for the visiting Winnipeg Jets.

“Gabe has been probably our best offensive player. There are some things going on with Kopi’s line that I’m not happy with, and I thought that that Gabe needed an opportunity there. […] What we have right now isn’t working, so we’ll have to address it tomorrow,” McLellan concluded.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kings’ first line has accounted for 45.53 xGF% in 5v5 play.

It’ll be interesting to see if McLellan puts the lines into the blender on Saturday, with Cal Petersen likely getting the start between the pipes.

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