The King of Los Angeles is taking care of the business at home again. This time, on Tuesday night, the league-leading Winnipeg Jets 4-1 defeated the league-leading Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at the Crypto.com Arena. Winning the win, the Kings beat them in all three games against the Jets.
The Jets rank at the top of the NHL in most categories, including targets and goal difference, but this season, the Kings have limited the Jets to under 20 for the third time, with only one goal. The Kings’ top line gleamed when all three forwards scored two points, Joel Edmundson scored his career-high score, while goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper has now been 8-2-0 against the Jets, who has continued 18 of 19 shots in his .947 savings rate (sv%).
Neither team ruled, but the Kings’ transitional game and offensive output never looked stronger. Before using the counterattack, they spread all over their ground throughout the neutral zone and blue lines. Whether it’s the San Jose Shark or the Jet, it takes a great performance to succeed with the King of their house building.
The Kings jumped to 93 points, maintaining two points before the Edmonton Oilers as the two teams continued to compete for second place in the Pacific Division.
Game review
The Jets brought an extra sense of urgency in the first phase, with the hockey. While they seem to have placed the puck on the stick far exceeding the King, they do not generate more than a high chance. Instead, it was the Kings who used the turnover and hasty urge that led them to score two quick goals in the first half.
Jets defender Colin Miller was weak on the edge of the board, and Edmundson rolled the puck around the board. Trevor Moore transferred Edmundson’s shooting percentage to Connor Hellebuyck’s 17th goal of the season to open the score. Less than two minutes later, the Kings showed some pretty much passes as Andrei Kuzmenko, Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar all hit the hockey, and Kopitar buried it in an open cage to extend the Kings lead to two leads.
You won’t see many opportunities when two teams with strong defensive defenses play, and this trend continues throughout the game. Both teams completed with 20 shots or less. Jets forward Cole Perfetti collected the puck directly from the box after hellebuyck halfway through the second, skated 2-on-1, and then placed the perfect shot on Kuemper’s mat to shoot on the scoreboard.
When Kuzmanko decided to do it all by himself, it didn’t take five minutes to respond, stripping the Neutral zone puck from Jets defensive player Logan Stanley and then slid a five-hole on Hellebuyck to give the Kings a 3-1 lead.
The third phase of offensive production was quiet as the kings were content to tighten and let the situation work. The Jets have two strong opportunities in the third stage, but they can’t even shoot. With Hellebuyck’s pull, Kempe scored the 62nd point of the season, sealing the deal with an empty network to allow the Kings to raise the Kings by three points, with less than a minute left.
The next step for the King and the Jets
The Kings will play the same way against Utah Hockey Club on Thursday (April 3), while the planes fight another Western Conference powerhouse on Thursday and fight the Golden Knights in Las Vegas.
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