Jets score five, but can't hold off Kings in home stand finale

WINNIPEG -The Winnipeg Jets offence broke through in a big way on Tuesday, but they could only earn a single point in a 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
The Jets (35-24-2) saw the Kings rally back from a 5-3 deficit in the third, with Adrian Kempe scoring the eventual game-winner in the shootout - just the second time this season that Winnipeg has lost a game past 60 minutes this season.
"We competed super hard. We played well," said Josh Morrissey, who had two goals and four points for the Jets in the loss. "Obviously, there is the fact we gave up five goals, and you don't want to do that.
"But the compete was there, the effort was there."

It just sucks that Winnipeg didn't get the reward, but the Kings have been doing this to teams all season. It's the league-leading fourth time that Los Angeles has come back from a multi-goal deficit in the third period to win a game this season, and the Kings erased two two-goal deficits in the game overall. Captain Anze Kopitar was a big part of it, recording his second career four-goal game.
"He's been in the league such a long time and I don't know if he's really changed at all, in the most complimentary way," said Morrissey. "Unfortunately for us, he brought his A-game today."
Meanwhile, Winnipeg is 0-3-1 in their last four games and have fallen to the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Along with Morrissey's goals, Kevin Stenlund also scored twice, with Kyle Connor adding a single.
Head coach Rick Bowness agreed with Morrissey's assessment of the game, adding that when things are as tough as they are for the Jets right now, the bounces seem to go the other way more often than not.
"They don't always automatically go your way," said Bowness. " We've got to build on it. We've got a tough weekend with Edmonton back-to-back but, if we play as hard as we did tonight, then we'll be OK."

Morrissey turned a 0-0 game into a 2-0 Jets lead in a span of just 1:43 in the opening period. First, with 4:08 remaining, he made a nice move to evade Viktor Arvidsson at the offensive blue line, and sent a shot wide of the Kings net. Mark Scheifele poked it back into the crease, and Morrissey raced in and banged it home for his 12th of the season - and Winnipeg's first five-on-five goal in 190:23 of game play.
Blake Wheeler picked up an assist on the play as well, making him just the 10th American born player to reach 600 career assists.
His 13th of the season made it 2-0, as he wired a slap shot from inside the left circle, beating Pheonix Copley high on the glove side with 2:25 left in the first period. The tally also gave Morrissey a new career-high in goals
The directive to get to the net, both with pucks and bodies, paid off all night for the Jets.
"It was a big thing we did yesterday and this morning: attack the net," said Bowness. "Greasy goals are scored right there. You've got to get in there."

The Kings third-ranked power play responded early in the second, needing just six seconds of power play time for Anze Kopitar's one-timer to cut the lead to 2-1. For Kopitar, it was his 21st of the season, his 12th 20-plus goal season of his career.
The Jets had an answer. Connor took a pass from Scheifele on the left wing as the Jets entered the Kings' zone, and his pin point wrist shot from a sharp angle went off the bar and in, restoring Winnipeg's two-goal cushion. Connor's 27th was also assisted by Morrissey, his 49th assist of the season.
But Kopitar's second of the game, and second of the period, at 9:14 - a deflection of a point shot from Alex Edler - made the score 3-2. Then, just under 90 seconds later, he redirected a Drew Doughty shot past Connor Hellebuyck to complete the hat trick and tie the game at three.
"It's a tough loss, but I think all the guys fought hard and, obviously, we need to bring that to next game, too," said Stenlund.
Stenlund continued the back-and-forth middle frame by turning out of the corner and snapping home his fourth of the season to put Winnipeg back in front 4-3. It was Stenlund's first goal since January 22, and it came with eight minutes to go in an eventful second.
"It's great when the bottom-6 can contribute that way, too," he said. "I think our energy was better today, both skating-wise and battles and after that the goals will come. We just got to bring that every night."

Nino Niederreiter, playing in his Jets debut, was taken down in the neutral zone and then threw aa massive hit on Kings defenceman Sean Durzi, which immediately drew a crowd. After some pushing and shoving, Jets fans chanted Niederreiter's name, but ultimately the Jets ended up shorthanded.
"He competes hard so he brings all those intangibles that you want this time of year," Morrissey said of Niederreiter, who had five hits in 18:13 of ice time. "That's the kind of player he is. He's just going to get more comfortable and I thought he was great."
It didn't matter.
After Adam Lowry - playing in his 600th NHL game - forced a turnover on the penalty kill, he made his way up ice and sent a perfect saucer pass to Stenlund, who hammered it past Copley to make it 5-3 Jets. It was Stenlund's first career shorthanded goal, and the first multi-goal game of his NHL career.
The start of the third brought another goal for Kopitar, his fourth of the game, as his slapshot with a rolling puck went over the right shoulder of Hellebuyck off the rush. It's the second four-goal game of Kopitar's career.

Speaking of bounces, the puck ended up in Kopitar's possession after bouncing off an official.
That's how it's been going lately.
"It goes right to the hottest player in the game," said Bowness with a shrug.
Not much else to say.
Gabriel Vilardi tied the game for Los Angeles with just over four minutes left in regulation with his 19th of the campaign.
In the shootout, only Adrian Kempe scored, as Scheifele, Connor, and Wheeler were all stopped by Copley, leaving the Jets with just a single point.
Next up, the Jets take on the Edmonton Oilers in a home-and-home back-to-back, beginning Friday in Edmonton.