Jets Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Kings, Will Face Avalanche in Back-to-Back

The Winnipeg Jets extended their homestand to 1-1-2 on Friday night after falling to the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets now hit the second half of the back-to-back on Saturday night when they host the Colorado Avalanche.

Despite the loss to the Kings, the Jets were pleased with their performance in a playoff-style contest.

“Yeah, that’s a style that I think we’re going to see when the games get close and come playoff time, not beating yourself, kind of letting the game come to you and just being okay with the grind. I thought we showed that,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo.

“I don’t think we got outside of ourselves too much. And overtime is a coin flip. So unfortunately, we were just on the other end of it there. But overall, I think we did a lot of good things, some things that we can do better to continue to get inside, maybe get some better-quality looks. But, I mean, overall, that was a very tight game, not a lot both ways for both teams.”

Another positive coming from the loss to the Kings was an impressive performance from Dylan Samberg.

The 25-year-old returned after a 21-game absence after breaking his foot blocking a shot back in November.

Samberg was a big part of the Jets penalty kill shutting down a talented Kings power play.

“Yeah, he was fantastic, for sure. He was great on the penalty kill. He made some big blocks. He was great on the breakouts,” said DeMelo.

“And it was like he never left. So, he had a great game for us. And it was a big reason why we were clean with our breakouts.”