Kings at Jets
All good things must come to an end as the Winnipeg Jets will discover when they conclude their 10-game homestand Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings. Winnipeg has gone 6-2-1 on the marathon stretch at Bell MTS Place, winning the last three contests by a combined 17-6.
The Jets, who are tied with Nashville for the Central Division lead while playing one more game, cruised to a 7-2 triumph over Florida on Sunday as rookie Kyle Connor scored twice to become the third member of the team to hit the 20-goal mark this season (21). Los Angeles is involved in tight battles for one of the final two spots behind first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division, as well as a wild card in the Western Conference, as it concludes its seven-game road trip. The Kings improved to 3-3-0 on the trek with a 3-1 victory at Chicago on Monday in which offense came from unlikely sources. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf was one of the contributors as he scored his second goal in three games since being acquired from Ottawa, where he netted three tallies in 53 contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE KINGS (32-22-5): Captain Anze Kopitar leads the team in goals (25) and points (63) despite being kept off the scoresheet Monday for only the fourth time in his last 20 games. The 30-year-old Slovenian, who has collected eight tallies and 15 assists in that span, will hit one milestone Tuesday as he skates in his 900th NHL contest and hopes to reach another as he needs one point for 800 in his career. Torrey Mitchell and Andy Andreoff joined Phaneuf in the goal column Monday after the trio entered the contest with a combined total of nine tallies on the season.
ABOUT THE JETS (35-15-9): Mark Scheifele was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on Monday after registering three goals and four assists in three games. The 24-year-old center, who missed 16 contests with an upper-body injury before returning Feb. 9, is tied with Patrik Laine for second on the team in scoring with 46 points. Blake Wheeler, who tops the club with 67 points and is 11 shy of matching his career high, is coming off back-to-back three-point performances and has recorded two goals and seven assists during the five-game streak he carries into Tuesday's game.
OVERTIME
1. Laine has recorded a goal and an assist in each of his last two games after being kept off the scoresheet in back-to-back contests.
2. Los Angeles RW Dustin Brown is two assists shy of 300 for his career.
3. Winnipeg C Bryan Little has scored in two of his last three games and is three goals away from 200 in the NHL.