Kempe lifts Kings past Jets in OT for 5th victory in row

WINNIPEG -- Adrian Kempe scored 1:14 into overtime, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

It was the Kings’ first game in six days. Their home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday was postponed because of the wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

“I think in a building like this tonight, you know, they're expected to win at home,” Kempe said. “Going into OT I think we're pretty confident. I think everybody played for all the people back in L.A. tonight and I think everybody showed that tonight, so that was fun to see.”

Kempe, who also had an assist, scored for the fourth game in a row (four goals) and extended his point streak to six games (four goals, four assists). He kept the puck on a 2-on-1 with Anze Kopitar and snapped a high wrist shot from the left face-off circle to the far side.

“It felt like we had another Christmas break when we haven't played, and obviously with everything going on back home it's pretty emotional and all that kind of stuff,” Kempe said. “But I think everybody showed up to play, everybody did their part. We kept it simple and played a solid 60 minutes against one of the best teams and one of the best home teams in the League.”

Alex Turcotte also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves for the Kings (24-10-5), who have won five straight.

Kuemper stopped Kyle Connor’s wrist shot from the high slot 20 seconds before Kempe scored.

“The save [Kuemper] made on Connor obviously is the one that gives us a chance to come down and get the game,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “We played well, and right from the start we were on our game. I was worried about it for a lot of different reasons; we talked about some of them. Proud of them. They came out and played hard in a really tough building against a really good team.”

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets (28-12-3), who have lost four of five (1-2-2). Eric Comrie made 21 saves.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Scheifele said. “Both sides protected the inside ice and didn't give much easy ice inside. So it was a tough battle right till the end. … We still had some chances, we still had some opportunities to score some goals. But they're a tough team there. They play solid D, they make it tough to get the inside. They have good sticks, so they made it tough.”

Jordan Spence appeared to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead 4:01 into the first period, but the goal was overturned after the Jets challenged for offside.

"That's as close to a playoff game as we've seen so far,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “That's exactly the type of game that gets played at the end of the season. Not a lot of room to make plays. When you did have some time, it got closed off pretty quick. Both teams, for us, we tried to defend the guts of the ice and you saw it both ways.”

Turcotte made it 1-0 for the Kings at 4:39 of the second period. Kempe threw the puck toward the net from the point, and Turcotte tipped it from the left hash marks.

“I think we played them really well the first 40 minutes,” Kempe said. “We kept them on the outside, not that many high-danger chances, so that's something that we're really happy with. But obviously it's hard to keep doing it for 60 minutes, especially when you're up one goal.”

The Kings held the Jets to nine shots on goal through two periods.

“I think the Kings way is just playing well defensively,” Spence said. “That's our biggest goal is keeping them away from high-quality chances, and I think we did that really well in the first two periods. I think we minimized their chances, and that's one of the reasons why we're having success with the teams that we're playing against. If we do that, we can win a lot of games [and] we’re going to have success.”

Scheifele tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 10:22 of the third period. He scored with a wrist shot from the left circle off Gabriel Vilardi’s pass across the slot.

NOTES: The Jets recognized the ongoing wildfires with a message of support for the Kings, their fans and the city of Los Angeles prior to the national anthems. “I just think that it's great when there's times of tragedy people band together,” Hiller said. “And there's two teams out there battling hard against each other, but ultimately we stand together. We understand there's a bigger humanitarian issue going on and in that point you stand together. So we appreciated that from them, for sure.” … Kuemper is 8-0-2 in his past 10 games, becoming the fourth goaltender in Los Angeles history with points in 10 consecutive games and the first since Robb Stauber (nine wins, one tie) did it from Oct. 10-Dec. 12, 1992. … The Jets have earned at least a point in nine of their past 10 home games (7-1-2) and are 15-4-3 at Canada Life Centre this season. … Scheifele has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak. … Connor (assist) has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in his past 12 games. … Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg had two blocked shots and a hit in 22:35 of ice time in his first game since breaking his foot against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 23.