Goalie David Rittich gets 100th win in Kings' victory over Winnipeg

Goalie David Rittich gets 100th win in Kings’ victory over Winnipeg

David Rittich stops a shot by Jets center Gabriel Vilardi in the first period.

Associated Press

Nov. 27, 2024 10:09 PM PT

David Rittich made 13 saves in his 100th victory, and captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist in the Kings’ 4-1 victory over the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night.

Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala also scored, and Adrian Kempe added an empty-net goal for the Kings.

Gabriel Vilardi scored against his former team for the Jets, who have lost four of seven since their 15-1-0 start to the season. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots in the fourth game on Winnipeg’s six-game trip.

Rittich was Hellebuyck’s backup for the 2022-23 Jets.

Kopitar redirected Kempe’s shot from the point on the power play just 1:52 in. Danault then skated unimpeded across Winnipeg’s goal mouth in the second for his second goal of the season, ending a 10-game drought.

Two minutes later, Vilardi lifted a rebound nine seconds into a power play for Winnipeg’s first goal.

But early in the third, Fiala flung a puck toward the net and got credit for his eighth goal when it banked in off Haydn Fleury’s skate, ending an eight-game goal drought for Fiala.

Takeaways

Jets: The offensive powerhouse struggled mightily against the Kings’ disciplined defensive effort, managing a season-low 14 shots. Winnipeg’s early-season goal production probably wasn’t sustainable, but the Jets have scored just three combined goals in their four losses over the last two weeks.

Kings: A much-needed rebound performance after their humiliating 7-2 loss to cellar-dwelling San José.

“I don’t know if it’s those specific losses against San José, we’ve usually responded pretty well after a loss, just generally,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “That one the other night did not feel good for anybody and so I think that may have had a little extra motivation for us tonight, the way that one went down in the third period. I just think, for the most part, there’s a lot of character, and we’ve bounced back pretty well after losing a game, whether we’ve play well or we don’t.”

Key moment

Former Kings forward Rasmus Kupari was awarded a penalty shot early in the second period, but Rittich stopped it comfortably with an outstretched pad.