I want to say that there is never an off night for the Los Angeles Kings playing in the league in the NHL in the Western Conference this regular season. The Kings (18-15-10) had to face a desperate Winnipeg Jets (16-22-5) on the road north of the border to start a quick two-game road trip in the West in Canada this weekend in the front end of back-to-back games for a couple of days.
Los Angeles Kings fall behind early vs. Winnipeg in a bad 5-1 loss on the road
Jim Hiller and the Kings faced a struggling Jets team in the West in the Central Division that was in last place in the league in the standings in the NHL this regular season.
The Kings were behind early in the game in the opening frame in the first period on the scoreboard, trailing the Jets by a score of 2-0 going into the locker room in the first intermission yesterday. There wasn't a sustained enough push by the Kings in the middle frame in the second period to battle back and tilt the ice in their favor on the scoreboard yesterday.
Despite Quinton Byfield getting the Kings on the scoreboard in the middle frame in the second period, it wasn't enough to get LA back in the game late in the third period in the final frame. The Kings made it a pretty easy task for the Jets to end a long 11-game losing streak this regular season yesterday.
Last night was an embarrassing loss to the Jets on the road in Winnipeg that the Kings have to most past before getting on to the back end of back-to-back games on Saturday evening vs. Edmonton (Jan. 10).
Here are three takeaways from the Kings' convincing 5-1 loss to the Jets on the road in Winnipeg on Jan. 9.
Slow start proves costly again for the Kings
At the end of the opening frame in the first period yesterday, the Kings were already down by multiple goals on the scoreboard vs. the Jets on the road against a desperate team in the West. Early in the middle frame in the second period, the Jets got a goal to put the game essentially out of reach for the Kings by Jonathan Toews.
That was only Toews' fourth goal of this regular season in the West for the Jets yesterday vs. the Kings.
"We had a pretty decent first period. Obviously down 2-0, so we’re not happy going into the locker room, but I think the start was good. I think we forechecked, had some turnovers, created some chances. It went the other way, obviously, down 2-0 after first, obviously, we did something wrong there. Overall, I think good effort but the play wasn’t there."Adrian Kempe
After Vlad Namestnikov scored the game's first goal in the opening frame in the first period, it all started to unravel for the Kings on the ice on the road yesterday. Cole Koepke doubled the Jets' lead over the Kings on the scoreboard later in the opening frame, by a score of 2-0.
The Kings haven't scored a goal in the opening frame in the first period in the West in the last three consecutive games in this past couple of weeks for the team.
Quinton Byfield gives the Kings the only sign of life yesterday vs. Winnipeg on the road
The game's only goal in the middle frame in the second period yesterday for the Kings on the road was from Byfield on a tip-in goal to give LA some life and energy in the middle of the contest. Byfield scored on a weird deflection in the middle frame that cut the Jets' lead to two goals on the scoreboard in the second period yesterday.
"That one is probably the most obvious example. They scored a couple from, you know, one from behind the net, the other one just throwing it at the net, a nice tip. You have to shoot the puck. You’re a team that’s not scoring a lot of goals, you’ve got it direct everything, and you get anything inside that slot area, I don’t think we have to overthink it. Power play, we did it a couple of times, too. I mean, we could have shot when we looked for one more pass. It’s kind of an old story for us this year. "Jim Hiller on Quinton Byfield
I would still like to see more aggressiveness and confidence shooting the puck offensively from Byfield this regular season in the West. He's scored multiple goals and five total points in the past five games for the Kings this regular season.
Midseason woes for the Kings in the West
Yesterday was a really bad loss and potentially a new rock-bottom low point in the West for the Kings this regular season on the road north of the border. There was never a sustained effort or push offensively that looked cohesive for the Kings to push back against the Jets on the ice or on the scoreboard in the middle frame in the second period.
In this past few weeks in the West, the Kings have lost a double-digit number of games in the past 14 contests for Hiller and staff since mid-December last month.