Jets Struggle to Score Again, Lose 4-1 to Kings

The Jets horrendous offensive slump continued in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. Unable to solve the mystery of Kings' netminder Joonas Korpisalo, the Jets were dumped 4-1 and then watched as their lead over Calgary for the final Wild Card spot in the West fell to just four points. Although the Kings outshot the Jets 29-26 (it was 10-0 and then 12-1 for LA through the first 10 minutes of the first period), the Jets also had 22 shots go wide and another 18 blocked as Winnipeg had territorial control for 50 minutes of the game and yet, were lucky to score the only goal they could muster. Once again, the Jets passed when shots would have been appropriate and although they went one-for-six on the power play, their only goal came with less than a minute remaining on a five-minute man advantage. The power play is simply horrible right now. As a result, the Jets two-game winning streak was halted, the team fell to 41-30-3 on the season and now lead Calgary (who beat San Jose 5-3 on Saturday afternoon) by only four points in the race for the final playoff spot in the West. They Jets lead Nashville by five points (the Predators lost 7-2 at home to Seattle on Saturday) and the Preds, although they are playing worse than the Jets at this particular moment, do have three games in hand. The Kings, meanwhile, are the hottest team in hockey. With Saturday's win, they tied the franchise mark for getting a point in 11 straight games. They are 9-0-2 during that stretch and they are 10-0-2 at home since the All-Star break. "They're a team that if you get down by a couple, they are hard to play against," said Jets defence man Josh Morrissey. "We gave up a couple goals off face-offs. You don't want that to happen. A couple little details either way is the difference." The Jets were, once again, dreadful in the face-off circle, winning only 33 per cent. It really looked bad on the power play when the Jets would lose a face-off in the attacking zone, have the puck shot the length of the ice by the Kings and then Winnipeg would never really re-group. Viktor Arvidsson scored his 21st of the season for L.A. at the 1:22 mark of the first period as the Jets fell behind early -- once again. Alex Iafallo gave the Kings the lead at the 5:28 mark of the second period, but the Jets cut the lead to 2-1 when Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his 25th of the year late on that five-minute power play. Kyle Connor (Connor's personal best 47th assist of the year) and Neal Pionk drew the assists. The Jets got the power play because a cowardly cheap-shot artist named Blake Lizotte, cross-checked Morrissey in the face for sport. The Jets fell behind 3-1 at the 27-second mark of the third when Drew Doughty beat Winnipeg net minder Connor Hellebuyck from a near-impossible angle. Despite the fact the Jets had the puck ion the Kings' zone for much the remainder of the game, they only hit the net five times and that wasn't good enough to beat Korpisalo (a guy who looks like the bass player in a Finnish Death Metal band). Then, when Arvidsson scored his second of the game and 22nd of the season at 18:24 to make it 4-1, that was it. The Jets went one-for-six on the power play while Los Angeles was one-for-two. The Jets outhit L.A. 36-24 and only had two giveaways for the entire game. But Hellebuyck wasn't at his best and the offence is just offensive right now. With eight games remaining on the schedule and four points separating themselves from Calgary, the Jets need to put some wins together. They'll get another chance to start something on Tuesday night in San Jose. Game time on TSN 3 is 9:30 p.m. CDT.