Scheifele Nets OT Winner as Jets Beat Kings 3-2

Mark Scheifele finally scored a goal. And what a goal it was. Scheifele took a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers just 32 seconds into overtime and rifled a blazing one-timer past Los Angeles Kings goaltender Cal Petersen to give the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 victory over the visitors from L.A. It was Scheifele's first goal of the season (14 games into the campaign) and not only did he shed the personal monkey from his back, he also gave the Jets their second-straight victory and their fourth win in the first six games of this current seven-game homestead. "It felt good," Scheifele said after the game. "It was a good play by Nikki (Ehlers). It was a good way to end that one. It was a grind off a game and we were able to pick our game up toward the end of the third period and play a more grinding style. You need to pull those ones out. "Playing with Nikkie and Coppers (Andrew Copp) is fun. I love it. I love the way we play three-on-three. We play more of an offensive game. I wish there was more of it in the league." The Jets are now 4-1-1 since starting the homestead on Nov. 2 with a 4-3 shootout win over Dallas. Winnipeg is now 8-1-3 in its last 12 games, 8-3-3 on the season and in first place in the NHL's Central Division. This 3-2 win over L.A. in overtime was the third time the Jets have gone to extra time on the homestand. They are 2-0-1 in those games. The Jets opened the scoring at 1:59 of the opening period when Kyle Connor banged home a rebound to notch his 11th goal of the season. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Logan Stanley drew the assists. But L.A. tied it up at the 4:02 mark of the first frame when Carl Grundstrom drilled a wrister over Connor Hellebuyck's shoulder. It was L.A.'s third shot of the game. From that point on, the teams played a pretty serious checking game until the end of the first 20 minutes. Although the Jets had the first five shots of the game, L.A. outshot Winnipeg 14-10. The Kings made it 2-1 at the 14:22 mark of the second period when former Jet Brendan Lemieux banged a rebound into a wide open net. It was Lemieux's second goal of the season and it eventually sent the teams to the break with the Kings up 2-1. Although the Jets had a power play and maintained a fair share of time in the Kings zone in the second period, but they simply couldn't get many shots on goal. The Kings outshot Winnipeg 10-2 in the second period and were ahead 24-10 on the shot chart after 40 minutes of play. In the third, the Kings played a smothering checking style and gave the Jets no real opportunities to score until Dubois got a shot and a rebound at about the seven-minute mark. However, late in the period the situation looked rough for the Jets. Dubois was in the penalty box and the Kings were buzzing around Hellebuyck. But then a clearing pass landed on the stick of a streaking Andrew Copp who crossed the Kings blue line with fellow penalty killer Adam Lowry. Instead of passing to Lowry who was headed to the net, he waited for defensemen Dylan DeMelo to join the rush. Copp laid a perfect pass on DeMelo's stick who beat Petersen on the short side to tie the game at two. Not only was it DeMelo's first goal of the year, it was his first goal in four years (131 games). It was obviously his first goal as a member of the Winnipeg Jets (he arrived in Winnipeg in 2019) and the first shorthanded goal of his seven-year NHL career. DeMelo's goal also set up Scheifele's heroics in overtime. "It felt great," DeMelo said. "There was definitely some frustration. When you play defence, you aren't relied on to score, but you do want to contribute. There is no feeling like scoring, obviously. It was nice to get that one and, of course, the timing was crucial. To be able to contribute in that sense, it was awesome. I don't do it very often so I was happy to be able to contribute and get a big goal for us." The Kings, who had a seven-game winning streak stopped, outshot the Jets 29-23, although the Jets outshot L.A. 13-5 in the third -period and overtime. The Jets outhit the Kings 39-19. Los Angeles was zero-for-two on the power play while the Jets were zero-for-one. The Jets did score a shorthanded goal in a game in which the officiating was both atrocious and dangerous. There were more than half a dozen attempts to injure and none were called. Meanwhile, Dubois had our statistical line of the night. He had an assist, was plus-one, had four shots on goal, seven hits and a blocked shot in 18 minutes a nd 53 seconds of ice time. This is not the same Pierre-Luc Dubois who joined the Jets in the Patrik Laine trade last season. This new guy is a monster player who combines size and skill and on Saturday night created more scoring opportunities than any other Jets player. Winnipeg will wrap up the homestead on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Canada Life Centre when they play host to Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatl and the Edmonton Oilers.