Game 43: Winnipeg Jets vs Los Angeles Kings pre-game report

The Jets arrested their slide with a big 5-2 win over the Predators on Tuesday night but it looked like it might have been a costly victory as Josh Morrissey left the game and (eventually) did not return (after trying to). He skipped the optional practice on Wednesday but we were told after it that he’s “feeling better” from head coach Scott Arniel and it seemed like if all went well when he skated on Thursday that he’d be a player tonight. He got through practice just fine yesterday so would appear to be a player. Additionally the team will get a big boost with the return of second pairing left side Dman Dylan Samberg who has been out since November 23rd when he blocked a Steven Stamkos shot in Nashville but appears posed to return in game 43.

While Winnipeg scores a lot of goals (1st overall) that is not something tonight’s opponent does as Los Angeles sits 22nd overall, while on the flip side the Kings are the stingiest team in the league with the Jets sitting in 3rd spot overall.  The Kings have the 9th best penalty kill in the entire NHL while the Jets counter with the 22nd ranked PK. And the Jets power play remains at the top of the league while the Kings have the 28th ranked PP.

The Kings have been a Jekyll and Hyde home and road team this season. In L.A. they are an impressive 14-2-1 but outside the friendly confines of Crypto Arena they are just a pedantic 9-8-4. Due to the wildfires burning in California they had their home game against Calgary cancelled so their last game was a win against Tampa Bay back on the 4th.

Skate news:

No changes today from what we saw yesterday. Eric Comrie was the first goalie off and Scott Arniel didn’t want to but he coyly confirmed that it will be the backup tonight and Connor Hellebuyck tomorrow.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Barron-Gustafsson-Kupari

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Coghlan

Comrie
Hellebuyck

King projected lines & D pairs:

Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Jeannot
Fiala – Danault – Laferriere
Moore – Lewis

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmindson – Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Englund

Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich

They went 11/7 as per Kings PR from the game on the 4th.

Player media:

Coach media:

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 PM CST. Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. You can join us on our YouTube channel for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show around 9:40 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.