LA Kings vs Winnipeg Jets: Three keys to the game

The LA Kings are set to square off against the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday and look to accomplish something they have not done since 2015.

At the end of their season long seven game road trip the LA Kings find themselves playing better than they were when the trip started. It helps when you snap a three game losing streak with a two win game streak, leaving the Kings just one game away from picking up seven or eight points on this trip.

It won’t be easy picking up those final points before heading back to Los Angeles, the Kings will be playing the Winnipeg Jets. The Kings haven’t beaten the Jets in Winnipeg since October 2015 and this version of the Jets has the second most points in the Western Conference.

The Jets are riding a three game winning streak and have been comfortable and cozy playing at home, while the Kings will be playing a back to back game having come in from a win in Chicago.

The Kings are also not the same that started the road trip, having picked up veterans Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson midway through the trip. Both players made their presence felt the last game in the Kings 3-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Phaneuf scored his second goal since joining the team and Thompson got his first point as a King.

These are the three keys to this game:

Speed Kills

The Jets are young, fast, and hungry and it shows as the Jets are in the top five of both goals scored and against. They are lead by a group  forwards barely old enough to drink but score in bunches. Veteran winger Blake Wheeler is the old man in the group of forwards at 31 but he is also the team points leader with 67.

After Wheeler it’s wingers Patrick Laine, Kyle Connor, and Nikolaj Ehlers who all have twenty or more goals and are between ages 19 through 21. The speed of these forwards can put the Kings on their heel, so they’ll have to rely on aggressive checking to and defense to neutralize the Jets wings.

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Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli were supposed to be the two contracts retained by the LA Kings this summer that was supposed to solidify the little youth the Kings had. Both are having decent seasons but hardly to level of what was expected.

Over their last ten games the two forwards combined have scored 1 goal and five points. That’s not good enough for two top six forwards when your team is struggling to stay in the playoff race. A good game against the Jets a tough conference opponent might go a long way to turning their seasons around.

Kuemper Comeback

Darcy Kuemper has been a very capable backup to Jonathan Quick and for a moment there it looked like he might have surpassed Quick in terms of play. But just as the stories of sitting Quick in favor of Kuemper then Kuemper’s game came back to Earth.

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Kuemper was pulled in his last two games giving up six goals combined. With the game being a back to back it is unlikely that Quick will start, so Kuemper has to be ready and get back to his winning ways if the Kings want to have a fighting chance against the Jets.