Jets guarding against royal flush in the court of NHL’s worst

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This article was published 17/12/2018 (1955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES — Beware the wounded animal.

That will be the mindset of the Winnipeg Jets tonight as they kick off a three-game road trip tonight against a reeling Los Angeles Kings squad that has just one win in the past seven games, two in the past 10 and now occupy the basement of the NHL standings with a record of 11-20-3.

“We do our prep maybe differently. We don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about how they played in their last two games. It’s what’s this team capable of. They’re really strong on the walls. And they’re driving and they’re angry when they play now, they’re frustrated,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said this morning at Staples Center.

“It’s no different than the game (last Friday) in Chicago for us. You’ve got Stanley Cup champions who aren’t happy with where they’re at. They’re going to push real hard and give you all you can handle.”

The Jets (22-9-2) are going in the other direction, with five straight wins and nine in their past 10, including a thrilling 5-4 overtime victory Sunday night against the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. Winnipeg is tied with Nashville and Calgary for top spot in the Western Conference, with a game in hand on both clubs.

They’ll go with the same lineup as last game, meaning Connor Hellebuyck in goal and Nic Petan and Joe Morrow as the two healthy scratches. Andrew Copp also remains out as he recovers from ongoing concussion symptoms.

The Jets opted to hold an off-ice workout this morning rather than the traditional morning skate.

“We have a certain skill set, a certain way we have to play. It’s going to be challenged here tonight because we didn’t skate yesterday and we didn’t morning skate. We’re going to have to skate here tonight. It’s an NHL game. The only chance we have to win here tonight is we have to outskate that team,” said Maurice.

Red-hot Mark Scheifele will be looking to continue where he left off. He has 14 points in his past five games (five goals, nine assists) including back-to-back overtime goals against Chicago and Tampa Bay. His streak includes three straight three-point games, and four in his past five.

Jets forward Adam Lowry watches the Kings closely, as his father, Dave, is an assistant coach with the club.

“I don’t think anyone saw that they were going to be struggling this much. They’ve missed a lot of guys at various times. Anytime your goalie is out for an extended period of time and you lose your backup, too, that’s going to hurt. They have a long list of injuries and that’s kind of played a factor in some of their struggles this year,” said Lowry.

“But they still have a lot of good players and good pieces over there. Just like approaching the games against Chicago. You have to be ready to play an NHL game, they’re not just going to gift you the two points. They have a few different weapons that can hurt you. We’re going to look to stay on this roll that we’re on right now.”

The road trip continues with games Thursday in San Jose and Saturday in Vancouver.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg