The Winnipeg Jets dropped to 18-5-0 late Wednesday night with an uninspiring 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. There was plenty to takeaway from this loss for the Jets, who still have two games to go on this gruelling road trip.
Jets top offensive stars struggle
Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had zero shots on goal tonight. Safe to say, that does not happen very often for the Jets’ top two offensive stars. The Jets also finished the third period with two shots on goal, and registered their first shot of the final frame after 14 minutes had already passed.
While the Jets coaching staff and Scheifele won’t admit it, he is clearly playing hurt, and it is severely affecting his play and ability to generate offence.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
The biggest tell is that he has deferred the faceoff duties on the top line to Gabriel Vilardi, who has succeeded in the dot, but this still raises concerns about Scheifele’s health nonetheless. In a four-on-four scenario, Kyle Connor even took a faceoff over Scheifele.
The injury is something that he and the Jets coaching staff feel comfortable with him playing through, but a discussion is on the horizon about his effectiveness.
Perfetti and Iafallo swapped in line rotations
Cole Perfetti’s goalless drought reached 11 straight games tonight. Late in the second period, he stepped into a shot in the high-slot and fired it off the post, coming that close to snapping the streak.
Heading into the third period, Arniel made a tweak in his forward line combinations, flipping Alex Iafallo and Perfetti in their usual line combinations. The offence was bleak
Iafallo and the Jets’ fourth line have been arguably the Jets best line over their past six periods of play, as Iafallo scored twice on Monday against Minnesota, and while they didn’t get on the scoresheet tonight, Rasmus Kupari drew three penalties.
It will be interesting to follow if the Jets and Scott Arniel make any tweaks to the forward lines heading into Friday’s game against Vegas, given how ineffective the top-six has been at five-on-five since the Nashville game.
Gabriel Vilardi scores against his former team
Gabriel Vilardi scored tonight, giving the Jets their only goal of the evening, and at the time cutting the lead to 2-1. In the two games he has played in Los Angeles since being traded to Winnipeg, he has posted two goals and three assists for five points.
It was yet another power play goal for Vilardi, who has four on the season. It was his ninth goal of the season so far, putting him on pace for 32 goals in the 2024-25 campaign.
The Jets’ power play went 1/3 on this night, as they failed to register a shot on goal on an opportunity with roughly 10 minutes remaining in the third period, down 3-1 at the time. The five-on-five offence generation was the Jets’ achilles heel on this night, and it’s something they will have to correct heading into the weekend as they get set to face more tough competition.
Up next
On Friday, the Jets will take on the Vegas Golden Knights at 7:30 CT, before travelling to Dallas to end this road trip with a matchup against the Stars.
Scheifele’s performance, Perfetti’s goalless drought, and the line combinations will be the biggest things to watch heading into the weekend. Stay tuned to illegalcurve.com for all the updates you need pertaining to the Jets and Moose.
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