VIDEO: Ducks Tied For First Place With 3-1 Win Over Winnipeg

By Matthew Garcia

Last night the Winnipeg Jets were in town for a tilt with the Anaheim Ducks, to this point in the season the Ducks and Jets have only met once. That meeting was back on January 23rd in Winnipeg in which the Ducks took that game by a final score of 3-2. The Jets are on the tail end of back-to-back games as they took on the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night in a game where they saw LA pot three third period goals within the first 10 minutes en route to a 5-2 victory. Tonight we see a very different Winnipeg team as they are a team that is very banged up on the blue line missing key players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot, Toby Enstrom, and Paul Postma. If the Ducks are to come out victorious they will need to be hard on the forecheck and put pressure on the rookie blue line that Winnipeg is working with. Tonight’s starting goalies are Jonathan Bernier for Anaheim and Michael Hutchinson for Winnipeg.

Period 1:

It didn’t take very long for the special team units to get started tonight as Jakob Silfverberg was whistled for interference just 48 seconds into the contest, the Ducks PK would be up for the task as they would kill off the penalty while not allowing a single shot on goal during that two-minute span. Shortly after the Ducks kill off the penalty they would get their first crack on the power play as Mark Stuart would take a seat for Winnipeg on a roughing call, Winnipeg would be able to kill off the Ducks power play while only surrendering 1 shot on goal. Bernier would come up huge for Anaheim midway through the period as he stoned Mark Scheifele point-blank on the side of the net. The Ducks would pot the games first goal of the night as Corey Perry would fire a shot from the blue line through traffic that would go up past the glove hand of Hutchinson. Ryan Kesler thought that he had made the game 2-0 but upon further review, it was determined that the net was knocked off the moorings. Anaheim would get another crack at a power play chance late in the period as Julian Melchiori would clear the puck over the glass resulting in a delay of game penalty. The first period horn would sound and the Ducks would take a 1-0 lead into the locker room, and carry 1:30 of power play time over into the second period.

Period 2:

The Ducks begin the second period with 1:30 of power play time, Anaheim would be unsuccessful in converting on their second power play chance of the night despite some good looks on Winnipeg goaltender Hutchinson. The Ducks’ penalty kill would take back to the ice as defenseman Korbinian Holzer would be given a two-minute minor for hooking. Despite the Jets’ failure on their first power play chance they would make Anaheim pay on their second as Josh Morrissey would get a tip on a Blake Wheeler point shot to put it past Bernier to tie the game up at one. Bernier would have to come up big as he turned aside Patrik Laine point-blank on what was a result of a bad change by Anaheim. A turnover from Josh Manson would almost prove costly, but Bernier would continue to shine as he would get his left pad on a tip-in shot from Joel Armia to keep the game tied at one. The Ducks would get a lucky bounce late in the period as Andrew Cogliano would attempt a centering pass for linemate Silfverberg, but would end up going off a Winnipeg defender and in behind Hutchinson to give Anaheim a 2-1 lead at the 16:32 mark. Silfverberg came close to giving Anaheim a two-goal lead, but Hutchinson would come up huge and turn him aside. The second period horn would sound and the Ducks would take a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

Period 3:

The Ducks would get their third power play opportunity of the night early in the period as Stuart would once again take a seat for Winnipeg in the penalty box, this time on an interference call against Silfverberg. Despite several great chances, coming mostly from defenseman Cam Fowler, but Hutchinson and the Jets would stand tall and successfully kill off their third penalty of the game. Some of the rough stuff would begin near the midway point of the period as Chris Wagner would make a big hit on Armia teammate Chris Thorburn would respond and draw the attention of Jared Boll. No penalties would come from the ensuing scrum. However, Patrick Eaves would be sent to the box for two minutes as he inadvertently got his stick up on Melchiori. The Ducks would be successful in killing off the penalty while only allowing one shot on goal, Anaheim would move to 2/3 on the night. Hutchinson would come up big to keep Anaheim from obtaining a two-goal lead as Rickard Rakell would get a great look in the slot, but would be turned aside twice as his initial shot went off the pad of Hutchinson, but would follow-up on his own rebound only to be turned away again. The Ducks would get a prime opportunity to put the icing on the cake in this game as the Jets would pull Hutchinson right as Ryan Getzlaf would gain control of the puck, but the Ducks center would shoot it wide of the open net, but a follow-up by Silfverberg would see the Ducks take a 3-1 lead with a little over a minute left to play

Final Score: Winnipeg-1 Anaheim-3

Despite not facing very many shots, Bernier would have to be sharp as all of the Jets chances were grade A opportunities. Three different Ducks appeared on the score sheet tonight, the most notable one being Corey Perry as he would pot his 15th goal of the season, and it is a welcome sight for the Ducks heading into the playoffs, Andrew Cogliano would also pot his 15th goal of the season, and his goal would stand up to be the game-winner. Jakob Silfverberg would give the Ducks an insurance tally late in the game to secure the two points and move into a tie for first place with the San Jose Sharks. The big story of the night, however, is the shutdown of the Jets’ top goal scorer Patrick Laine as he was held scoreless and only took one shot the entire night, and wasn’t allowed very many looks on the power play.

Now let’s take a look at the updated pacific division / wild card standings. Last night the San Jose Sharks were in action against the Dallas Stars, the Sharks would be looking to not only extend their lead in the pacific division but also avoid a fifth straight loss. The Stars who are well out of a wild card position would play the spoiler as they would score and score often against the Sharks en route to a 6-1 victory. The Ducks took down the Winnipeg Jets by a final of 3-1 last night and with the two points that they secured was enough to move them into a tie for first place with their rivals up north the San Jose Sharks. Tonight the pacific division match-ups would be in full flight as the Calgary Flames (41-29-4) would be on the road against a surging St.Louis Blues (40-28-5) team who will be looking to win their fifth straight game. The San Jose Sharks (42-25-7) will be on the tail end of back-to-back games against a Nashville Predators (37-25-11) squad looking to keep a comfortable distance over the LA Kings for the final wild card spot in the western conference. The Edmonton Oilers (40-25-9) will be in action against the visiting Colorado Avalanche (20-50-3) looking to keep pace with Anaheim and San Jose for the top spot in the pacific division going down the stretch. Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings (35-31-7) will be in action against the visiting New York Rangers (45-25-4) who are looking to keep their playoff hopes alive in what is a tight race for the wild card spots in the western conference.

What’s Next?

New York Rangers (45-25-4) @ Anaheim (40-23-11) Sunday at 6 PM PT

Click below to watch highlights fo the Ducks win!

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March 25th, 2017

Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, ducksnpucks, winnipeg jets