Jets at Kings preview
Winnipeg seeks 11th victory in November; Los Angeles 1-2-1 in past four
by Dan Greenspan / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
JETS (16-9-1) at KINGS (10-14-2)
10 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, SNW, FS-W, NHL.TV
The Game
The Winnipeg Jets will try for their 11th win in 14 games in November when they visit the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Saturday.
The Jets are 10-2-1 this month after defeating the Anaheim Ducks 3-0 on Friday for their third straight victory and sixth in seven games (6-1-0). The 10 wins in November are a Jets/Atlanta Thrashers record, and it is the fifth time Winnipeg/Atlanta has won at least 10 games in a calendar month.
The Kings, who lost 4-1 at the San Jose Sharks on Friday, are 1-2-1 in their past four games after going 4-1-0 in their previous five games.
Players to watch
Jets forward Kyle Connor leads Winnipeg with 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 13 games in November and has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past seven games.
Kings center Anze Kopitar has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past 12 games and needs three points to tie Wayne Gretzky (918) for fourth place in Los Angeles history.
They said it
"I think the theme around here is let's keep it rolling, because two points in November is going to matter in April, so let's keep this momentum rolling while we can." -- Jets defenseman Neal Pionk
"I'll tell you when the team is tired. It's not the schedule. We're playing just as many games and we've been home forever, so let's take the schedule out of the equation and let's just talk about the play." -- Kings coach Todd McLellan
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Patrik Laine
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Blake Wheeler -- Jack Roslovic
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Mathieu Perreault
Joona Luoto -- David Gustafsson -- Logan Shaw
Josh Morrissey -- Tucker Poolman
Carl Dahlstrom -- Neal Pionk
Anthony Bitetto -- Luca Sbisa
Laurent Brossoit
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched: Michael Spacek, Cameron Schilling
Injured: Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), Nathan Beaulieu (upper body), Mason Appleton (foot), Gabriel Bourque (lower body), Bryan Little (ear), Dustin Byfuglien (ankle)
Kings projected lineup
Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown
Adrian Kempe -- Blake Lizotte -- Austin Wagner
Jeff Carter -- Michael Amadio -- Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford -- Nikolai Prokhorkin -- Trevor Lewis
Ben Hutton -- Drew Doughty
Paul LaDue -- Sean Walker
Joakim Ryan -- Matt Roy
Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick
Scratched: Ilya Kovalchuk, Kurtis MacDermid, Matt Luff
Injured: Alec Martinez (wrist), Derek Forbort (back)
Status report
Dahlstrom is expected to play after Kulikov was injured in the first period against the Ducks. … Schilling, a defenseman, was recalled from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … Beaulieu was placed on injured reserve. … LaDue will make his season debut. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in 33 games for the Kings last season.
Stat pack
The Jets are 7-1-0 in their past eight road games. … Wheeler has six points (one goal, five assists) in a three-game point streak. … Laine has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games. … The Kings are 19-for-22 (86.4 percent) on the penalty kill in their past nine games after they were 43-for-61 (70.5 percent) in their first 17 games.