Scheifele scores twice, Jets end 11-game slide with win against Kings

WINNIPEG -- Mark Scheifele scored twice, and the Winnipeg Jets ended an 11-game skid with a 5-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

"It’s been mentally, physically, emotionally hard on everyone," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "We got through it. We did what we needed to do. Now we need to move forward and build off it."

The Jets had gone 0-7-4 during the slide and allowed three straight goals in a 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in the first of a back-to-back.

“There is a lot of relief for everyone,” Arniel added. “We needed that, as you know. We needed it badly. I just like the way, on a back-to-back game, such an emotional one last night, and to come back today was great.”

Vladislav Namestnikov, Jonathan Toews and Cole Koepke also scored, and Eric Comrie made 23 saves for the Jets (16-22-5). Gabriel Vilardi and Cole Perfetti each had two assists.

“We played like kids again tonight,” Comrie said. “We had a lot of fun. We got back to just enjoying the game we love to play. … For everyone to get out there and play like kids and have fun, that takes more pressure off than who scored. It doesn’t really matter, but we’re just having fun again.”

Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings (18-15-10). Darcy Kuemper allowed five goals on 16 shots before being replaced by Anton Forsberg at the beginning of the third period. He made three saves.

“I feel like everybody knew they're on a bad losing streak there, and they came out desperate, wanted it,” Byfield said. “That's all they did. They just outmuscled a couple, got to the net a little bit harder than us. Obviously, their goalie played well, as well. So, they just knew what they had to do, and obviously, being on that losing streak, they came out hard.”

Namestnikov made it 1-0 for the Jets at 1:31 of the first period, tipping Logan Stanley’s point shot through the legs of Kuemper.

“All four lines scored today and then we won,” Namestnikov said. “So that's what we were doing all last year. All four lines were contributing and we need it this year. So, hopefully this is a step in the right direction and we can continue this.”

Koepke made it 2-0 at 18:05, when Dylan Samberg set him up for a one-timer from the right face-off dot.

“Really, it was probably their power play, I think, (that) got (them) some momentum with five minutes left in the first period,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “I didn't think they had much prior to that besides the goal. So that set us back just a little bit, and then we have a chance to bury one. We didn't get it.”

Toews pushed it to 3-0 at 2:07 of the second period. Colin Miller’s point shot redirected off a skate in front before hitting the post, and Toews reached behind Kuemper to slide it in.

“I think we had a couple unfortunate bounces against us,” Kings forward Adrian Kempe said. “But other than that, I think you're down a couple of goals, it’s tough to start climbing back. Tried to look for one or a couple, but I think we had our chances. It's been kind of the same issue as it's been all year, and it's putting more than one or two on the board, and it continued tonight.”

Byfield put the Kings on the board 3-1 at 9:32, tapping Taylor Ward's shot from the blue line past Comrie in with his skate. Winnipeg challenged the play, although the goal was upheld.

“I feel like there's a lot of bounces out there today, you know?” Byfield said. “Unfortunate, but there's also some on us. Like, there's some chances I'd like back where maybe I pass instead of shooting. I think we only had (five) shots in the first, so that's probably a big area. Just getting pucks to the net, playing down low, so there's some factors there.”

Scheifele made it 4-1 at 12:35 on the power play when his centering pass from behind the net took a wild bounce off Byfield’s skate and elevated over Kuemper’s shoulder.

“I thought we started fine,” Hiller said. “I would say they had some timely goals. They certainly didn't spend a lot of time in our zone, but they had some good rush attack. They’ve got some guys that can finish, so that was probably the difference.”

Scheifele then made it 5-1 at 19:17, scoring with a one-timer from above the left face-off dot on the rush.

NOTES: The Jets improved to 14-7-3 when scoring first and ended a five-game skid in those games. … Namestnikov returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Thursday and scored his seventh goal of the season, which was his first in 30 games. … Nino Niederreiter had the secondary assist on Namestnikov’s goal for his 100th point with the Jets franchise, ending a 17-game pointless drought. … Ward assisted on Byfield’s goal for his first career assist in his third NHL game. Ward scored in his NHL debut on April 17, 2025 against the Calgary Flames.