LOS ANGELES – 65 minutes was not enough time to determine a winner at Staples Center on Saturday so fans got to experience the two most exciting words in hockey: shoot out.
Bryan Little scored the only goal in the shoot out and the Jets defeated the Kings 5-4.
“We played awesome in overtime,” said Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson. “We had the puck on our stick for most of the time and in the shootout it was nice to see Litts [Bryan Little] score that goal and I just tried to do my job.”
Mathieu Perreault, Blake Wheeler and Little all scored on Winnipeg’s first three shots of the game during a 3-minute span that left the arena stunned and the defending Stanley Cup Champions reeling.
“We finally got off to the start we wanted,” said Jets forward Adam Lowry after the game. “We killed that early penalty. We caught some lucky bounces.”
The Kings would claw back after four unanswered goals by Justin Williams, Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and Kyle Clifford, but surrendered the game-tying goal to Zach Bogosian. It was Bogosian’s first goal of the season, and his first time finding the net in 41 games dating all the way back to last season.
“It’s disappointing,” said Gaborik in the locker room. “The start wasn’t ideal but we rallied back. We were in a hole, we came back, we rallied back, it’s too bad about the outcome.”
Perreault started the scoring onslaught three minutes into the first period. Matt Greene turned the puck over in his own zone and Michael Frolik found Perreault in front of the net for the Jets first shot and goal of the game. 52 seconds later, Little beat Jonathan Quick with a wrist shot.
The nightmare continued for the Kings in the opening minutes as Wheeler made it 3-0 Jets on a power play goal that ricocheted off the skate of Kings center, Trevor Lewis.
Minutes later, Clifford was given a two-minute penalty for roughing after unleashing a brutal hit on Jets forward Anthony Peluso.
The hit ignited the sleeping Kings as they seized the momentum and scored two power-play goals by the end of the period. The first goal came on a 5 on 3-man advantage by Kopitar, and the second by Williams.
“That was a game you like to be a part of, especially the first period,” said Winnipeg head coach, Paul Maurice. “I’m not just talking about the score; the physicality of it, the intensity, and lots of big hits going both ways. It was fun.”
After a five goal first period, the Kings and Jets skated to a scoreless second period and Los Angeles headed into the third period trailing for the sixth consecutive game.
Gaborik tied the score in the opening minutes of the third period for his team-leading 13th goal. Shortly after it looked like Clifford would be the hero after he scored the go-ahead goal with less than seven minutes remaining.
Hutchinson stopped 25 shots including all four he faced in the shootout, and the 24-year-old rookie earned his 10th win of the season.
Quick made 21 saves and praise should go to Kings coach Darryl Sutter for sticking with Quick after he gave up three goals on the first three shots he faced. Quick battled back and stopped 21 of the next 22 Jets shots.
It was a high scoring affair for two of the top defensive teams in the NHL. The Kings who were the number one defensive team in the league last season and currently rank 9th, and the Jets who rank 6th.
“We can’t give up five goals and expect to win a hockey game,” said Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. That’s what it comes down to. We started to match their physical play, but at the end of the day you can’t give up that many goals and expect to win.”
The Kings salvage a point after trailing by three, but with the shootout victory, Winnipeg now leap frogs the Kings who were both tied for 7th place in the Western Conference going into the game. The Kings now fall to 8th place and the Jets jump into a tie for 5th.
The Kings are 0-3 on their current seven-game home stand and will try and avoid their first four-game losing streak at home since 2010-2011 on Monday night against the Toronto Mapleleafs.
Game Notes:
Kings young forward, Tyler Toffoli, missed the game with mononucleosis and is out indefinitely. Before the game, the NHL announced that Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and center Anze Kopitar were selected to the NHL All-Star game on January 25th in Columbus. Kings coach Daryl Sutter will coach one of the teams.
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