WINNIPEG – Pierre-Luc Dubois scored in his return to Winnipeg and Travis Moore had two goals and an assist to help the Los Angeles Kings pick up their first victory of the NHL season with a 5-1 win over the Jets on Tuesday.
Dubois was traded to Los Angeles from Winnipeg in June for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari.
Phillip Danault recorded a goal and two assists and Arthur Kaliyev notched a goal and assist for the Kings (1-1-1).
Cam Talbot, a free-agent signing on July 1, made 26 saves.
Jets centre Mark Scheifele averted a shutout by scoring with 1:16 remaining in the third period.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots for Winnipeg (1-2-0).
Some fans welcomed Dubois back by booing him each time he touched the puck.
The storyline didn’t end on a happy note for Vilardi, who was tripped by Kings forward Blake Lizotte 5:55 into the first period along the boards. Vilardi grabbed his right knee and skated off the ice putting some weight on it. The team didn’t take long to announce he wasn’t returning.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Vladislav Namestnikov had turns replacing Vilardi on the top line with Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
There was no scoring in the first period, although it looked like Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey had a goal seven minutes into the period, but his blistering shot hit the crossbar and stayed out.
Winnipeg outshot the visitors 14-9 in the opening frame.
Dubois scored his first goal of the season five seconds after a Winnipeg penalty expired, putting Anze Kopitar’s rebound past Hellebuyck at 11:01 of the second period.
Tempers flared late in the period after Kings defenceman Andreas Englund hit Jets forward Cole Perfetti in the back and into the boards. Dylan Samberg jumped to Perfertti’s defence. Samberg and Englund were both dinged for fighting, but Samberg was also handed a penalty for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct.
The bad blood continued when Perfetti went in the corner and was called for cross-checking Matt Roy. Jets centre Mark Scheifele and Kaliyev joined in and both got dinged for roughing.
Los Angeles came out the winner on the scoreboard when Moore made it 2-0 at 16:19.
The Kings outshot the Jets 12-4 in the second.
It was all Los Angeles for most of the third, with Kaliyev scoring at 2:51, Moore netting his second at 14:31 and Danault scoring on the power play 61 seconds later.
Winnipeg was 0-for-4 on the power play and the Kings 1-for-5.
CHEEKY MOVE
Jets head coach Rick Bowness had some fun with the game’s subplot.
The starting line he sent on the ice was Iafallo, Kupari and Vilardi. They usually play on different lines.
FRANCHISE WORKHORSE
Captain Kopitar played in his 646th career road game, tying Dustin Brown for the most road games played in franchise history. Kopitar is now one game away from tying Brown (1,296) for most games played all-time in franchise history.
Kopitar also became the second player in Kings’ history to record 750 assists, joining Marcel Dionne (757).
UP NEXT
Jets: End a three-game homestand Thursday with a visit from the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Kings: Travel to Minnesota for a Thursday game against the Wild.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2023.
