Kyle Connor looks to continue his torrid start when the Winnipeg Jets host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.
Connor, who signed an eight-year, $96 million contract extension with the Jets on Wednesday, had a hat trick in Winnipeg’s season-opening 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Kings will be playing their third game in five days after losing 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and beating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 in a shootout on Wednesday.
In Winnipeg, Connor’s third goal of the game pulled the Jets within 5-4 with 3:03 remaining in regulation, but Dallas held on after nearly blowing a 5-1 lead.
“Certainly, you have to give Dallas credit, but for 50 minutes we were not a very good hockey team,” said Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel. “Our structure and detail in all three areas wasn’t very good. They’re too good of a hockey team to make those kind of mistakes.”
The 28-year-old Connor, who led the Jets with 41 goals and 56 assists last season, extended his NHL-record streak of scoring a goal in season openers to eight.
“(I’m) just trying to contribute as much as I can and show a little more leadership this year,” Connor said. “And I think over the years, I’ve definitely grown into that.”
Morgan Barron also scored for the Jets and Mark Scheifele had three assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.
Winnipeg native Jonathan Toews had one shot on goal and won seven of 15 faceoffs in 18:19 of ice time in his debut for his hometown team. It was his first NHL game since April 13, 2023, after health issues kept him out the past two seasons.
Quinton Byfield and Andrei Kuzmenko each had a goal and an assist on Wednesday for the Kings, who rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the final 10 minutes to win in Las Vegas.
Brandt Clarke tied the game 5-5 at 14:00 of the third — assisted by Byfield and Kuzmenko — while Adrian Kempe and Trevor Moore scored in the shootout.
“It wasn’t the prettiest offense, but it was the type of offense that we control games with, just by getting loose pucks, going low to high and finding the hole, jumping on the next one,” said Kings coach Jim Hiller.
Jeff Malott, 29, scored his first NHL goal and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves during regulation and overtime and stopped two of three in the shootout for the Kings.
“We’ve been talking this week about building the character of the team. I think that’s a big step for us,” Malott said. “Just those games where you’re looking to find a little bit extra and that’s what we were able to do.”
The Kings swept all three meetings last season, including a 2-1 overtime decision in Winnipeg on Jan. 10.
