made 13 saves in his 100th victory, and captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist in the ’ 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 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.
Key stat
Winnipeg hadn’t recorded fewer than 20 shots in a game this season, but the Kings excel at limiting opponents’ chances.
