Jets fall 4-1 to Kings, struggle to record a season-low total of 14 shots
Winnipeg hadn't recorded fewer than 20 shots in any game this season
David Rittich made 13 saves in his 100th career victory, and captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist in the Los Angeles Kings' 4-1 victory over the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.
Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Adrian Kempe added an empty-net goal for the Kings.
Gabriel Vilardi scored against his former team for the Jets, who have lost four of seven since their 15-1-0 start to the season. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots in the fourth game on Winnipeg's six-game trip.
Kopitar redirected Kempe's shot from the point on the power play just 1:52 into the game for the only goal in the first period.
Danault skated unimpeded across Winnipeg's goal mouth around the seven-minute mark of the second period for his second goal of the season, ending a 10-game scoring drought.
Two minutes later, Vilardi lifted a rebound nine seconds into a power play for Winnipeg's first goal.
Jets forward Rasmus Kupari, who is also a former King, was awarded a penalty shot early in the second period but Rittich stopped it comfortably with an outstretched pad.
Rittich was Hellebuyck's backup for the 2022-23 Jets.
Early in the third, Fiala flung a puck toward the net and got credit for his eighth goal — ending an eight-game goal drought — when it banked in off Jets defenceman Haydn Fleury's skate.
The Jets' offensive powerhouse struggled mightily against Los Angeles' disciplined defensive effort, managing a season-low 14 shots. Winnipeg hadn't recorded fewer than 20 shots in any game this season.
Winnipeg's early-season goal production probably wasn't sustainable, but the Jets have scored just three combined goals in their four losses over the past two weeks.
The win was a much-needed rebound performance for the Kings after a humiliating 7-2 loss to cellar-dwelling San Jose on Monday.