GAMEDAY: Kings at Jets

WINNIPEG – Everything has to come to an end, sometime.

The Winnipeg Jets are hoping that their 11-game winless streak is coming to an end when they host the Los Angeles Kings as they play on back-to-back nights.

The Jets saw their 3-1 second period lead over the Edmonton Oilers evaporate as the visitors scored three unanswered goals to leave Canada Life Centre with a 4-3 win. Winnipeg has now dropped 13-consecutive one-goal games.

Yeah, we just sat on our heels,” said Neal Pionk on Thursday night.

“And at this point, I think it's mental, so we’ve got to overcome that.”

Once again, Winnipeg scored first and built a two-goal lead in the first period and looked like they were ready to snap out of their funk. Yet, they only managed five shots over the final 40 minutes.

“We have to stay aggressive; we can’t afford to sit back on anything. We have to stay after whoever we’re playing, no matter the opposition. It’s what we did in the first 30 minutes,” said head coach Scott Arniel.

“Obviously, we backed off in the second half, not by design. Certainly not by design. I heard the players barking at each other, I was barking at them. I said the same thing before the start of the third. We can’t sit on our heels; we’ve got to go.”

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor recorded their 16th and 15th multi-point games of the season, respectively, and now each have reached the 50-point mark this season. Winnipeg is now one of four teams this season with multiple players at the 50-point mark, joining Dallas (Johnston, Rantanen, and Robertson), Edmonton (McDavid and Draisaitl), and Colorado (MacKinnon, Necas, and Makar). Connor and Scheifele also became the third pair of players on the same team to have 15 or more multi-point games this season, joining McDavid and Draisaitl and MacKinnon and Necas.

Make sure to watch the Jets pregame show “The Check In” with Sara Orlesky and Jamie Thomas at 12:30 CT on YouTube, X or Facebook.

While things aren’t looking good in terms of the results that the Jets are getting these days, Dylan DeMelo feels they are playing not to lose right now.

“We play well enough to get the leads in game, and then it just seems like we're scared to make a mistake, and in turn, I think that's making us play on our heels. And we're not playing the way that got us the lead in games,” said DeMelo.

“And safe as death in this league, it doesn't mean you have to be loose and giving up chances and things like that, but you got to play on your toes, and you have to play assertive, and you have to play confident. And right now it just looks like we're a little timid with the lead.”

The Jets have now dropped 13 straight one-goal games.

"Shocked because last year, the year before, I think we were one and two in the league. That's the shock," said Arniel.

"So, it falls on me. Falls on our group. That's what the NHL is, the teams that win those one goal games, are the ones playing in the playoffs. It’s plain and simple. You can't win in this league if you stay in the one goal games. First of all, stay in them, don't let it become two or three. The other side of it is, find a way to come out on the right side of it with two points."

The Jets and Kings are meeting for the third and final time this season. The Jets won the first matchup at Canada Life Centre on Oct. 11 while Los Angeles took the victory at Staples Center on Nov. 4.

Tonight’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets will feature a quartet of University of Minnesota-Duluth alumni, including Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson (2017-19) and Winnipeg’s Neal Pionk (2015-17) and Alex Iafallo (2013-2017), and Dylan Samberg (2017-20). During their collegiate years, Anderson’s defensive partner was Samberg.