Streaking Jets head to Los Angeles (Mar 23, 2017)
One of the bright spots for the Winnipeg Jets this season is their success on the road. They enter Thursday night at the Los Angeles Kings with a 15-15-6 record away from MTS Centre this season, which would leave them closer to the top eight in the Western Conference if not for their 18-18-1 mark at home.
"We play a simpler game on the road," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said after a 3-2 win Tuesday night against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. "That's a direction we would try to go to in our 5-on-5 game especially. We have a tendency to overpass a little bit at home, overplay the puck, and I also think we have more mood swings at home."
The Jets (33-33-7) should be in a positive mood when they take the ice at Staples Center. They have won their last three games, but they still sit 10 points back of the Nashville Predators for the second wild card out of the West and have just nine games remaining on the schedule.
The Kings (34-31-7) have seen their playoff hopes slip away more recently, posting a 1-3-1 record in the last 10 days to fall from three points back of the final wild-card spot to eight back with 10 games left.
"We're not done fighting," Kings forward Dustin Brown said. "We put ourselves in a really hard spot and we've got to fight our way out of it and, at the end of the day, we need other teams to falter."
Brown said the team's recent struggles haven't been for lack of effort or intensity. The Kings have simply struggled to put the puck in the net, scoring two goals or less in each of the last five games.
"You look at our defensive side of the game," Brown said. "I think we're top five PK, top five shots against, pretty good on the defensive of the puck and that allows us to claw, stay around, and then our power play has been really good the last month or so, which has won us games. I mean, it's no secret we've really struggled 5-on-5, so we've got to find a way now."
Kings coach Darryl Sutter said the team's youth has also played a part in the recent slide.
"There are some inexperienced guys on our team at strong positions that still have a lot to do in terms of their preparation skills, and there's a point where that's their responsibility," he said. "Otherwise they're not improving."
The Kings will need to find a way to stop Jets center Mark Scheifele, who had a goal and two assists against the Flyers. He matched his career high with his 29th goal of the season and already has a career-best 74 points.
Los Angeles will counter with center Jeff Carter, who has a team-high 31 goals, but just two in his last 17 games.
The Jets called up winger Brandon Tanev from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Tanev will provide depth for a team that's already starting three defensemen who began the season with Manitoba.
Tanev had two goals and four points in 42 games with the Jets earlier this season.
