Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Matt Coronato scored a hat trick to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Calgary

Matt Coronato scored a hat trick to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at home on Thursday night.

Adam Klapka scored his first goal of the season, and Dustin Wolf made 31 saves for the Flames, who avoided losing three straight games for the first time since a four-game losing streak in November.

Frank Vatrano scored a short-handed goal for Anaheim, earning his 300th NHL point, while John Gibson made 26 saves for the Ducks, who had won three games in a row.

The Flames didn’t get their first shot on goal until 5:57 into the first period. They then went on a power play after Cutter Gauthier was called for hooking MacKenzie Weegar at 10:20. However, the Ducks scored while short-handed.

Calgary turned the puck over at the Anaheim blue line, allowing Vatrano to take possession. He carried the puck into the left circle and scored with a wrist shot at 11:54.

Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks

Klapka tied the game 1-1 just 15 seconds into the second period. Martin Pospisil passed the puck to Klapka, who scored with a backhand shot after bringing the puck close to the net.

The Flames took a 2-1 lead with 44 seconds left in the second period. After a Ducks faceoff win, defenseman Jacob Trouba’s clearing attempt was blocked, and the puck fell to Coronato in the left circle. He skated into the high slot, spun, and scored with a wrist shot.

Coronato extended Calgary’s lead to 3-1 at 16:10 of the third period when Gibson’s clearing attempt hit Blake Coleman, sending the puck to Coronato. He then scored from close range.

Coronato completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal at 2:33 left, sealing the Flames’ 4-1 win.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Philadelphia Flyers Snap Losing Streak with Commanding 6-0 Shutout Victory Over Anaheim Ducks

The Philadelphia Flyers routed the Anaheim Ducks 6-0 at home, snapping a four-game losing streak. Travis Konecny shone with four assists, and Samuel Ersson stopped all 22 shots for his second shutout of the season. Philadelphia’s balanced attack saw five players, including former Duck Jamie Drysdale, notch both a goal and an assist.

Early Goals Set the Tone

The Flyers built momentum early, scoring twice in the first period. Morgan Frost redirected a Konecny shot for the opening goal, followed by Drysdale’s power-play strike from another Konecny feed. These goals energized the Flyers and put Anaheim on the back foot.

Philadelphia vs Anaheim Ducks
Philadelphia vs Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

In the second period, Konecny continued his playmaking dominance, setting up Owen Tippett’s one-timer during a 2-on-1 rush. The goal extended Philadelphia’s lead to 3-0 and underscored Konecny’s pivotal role in driving the team’s offense throughout the game.

Flyers Seal Win with Dominant Third Period

The Flyers added three goals in the final frame. Rookie Matvei Michkov buried a rebound for his 13th goal of the season, while Garnet Hathaway and Ryan Poehling combined for two quick goals, further securing the victory.

Ersson’s stellar goaltending marked his seventh career shutout. Meanwhile, Anaheim’s offensive woes continued as they were outscored 15-4 during their three-game skid. Cutter Gauthier, facing his former team, managed only three shots and a minus-1 rating for the Ducks.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Ducks bring confidence into matchup against Lightning in Anaheim

The Anaheim Ducks have been on a roll recently, taking down some of the NHL’s top teams, and they’ll have another shot at a win on Sunday when the Tampa Bay Lightning wrap up their three-game road trip in California.

During their recent three-game winning streak, the Ducks have been powered by right winger Troy Terry. In his fourth full NHL season in 2021-22, Terry had a breakout year, scoring 37 goals and adding 30 assists, totaling 67 points in 75 games. He has continued to perform well, currently leading the team with 13 goals, 18 assists, and 31 points.

Terry plays on the top line alongside left winger Frank Vatrano and center Ryan Strome. Over the last five games, Terry has contributed four goals and two assists, including the overtime winner against Winnipeg on Thursday. This helped the Ducks extend their winning streak to three games, beating the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, and Jets.

The Ducks have shown resilience this season, coming back to win seven games in the third period and overcoming multi-goal deficits four times, ranking second in the league.

“The difference this year, when we go down a goal there with two minutes left, we have a little bit more swagger and confidence that we’re OK and can still tie this game up,” Terry said. “No matter where the game is at, we have confidence in the group that we can pull it off.”

However, their streak ended on Friday when the Ducks erased a two-goal deficit against Edmonton only to lose 3-2 after Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winner with 95 seconds remaining.

Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

Vatrano has nine goals and 11 assists this season, while Strome has seven goals and 14 assists.

As for the Lightning, they’ve won five straight games against the Ducks, including eight of the last nine, but enter Sunday’s game on a three-game losing streak. Sunday’s match will be the second of back-to-back games for the Lightning, who lost 2-1 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. They are 2-2-0 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

Victor Hedman, who took a puck to the ear on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, scored the Lightning’s only goal in the loss to the Kings. Hedman has five goals and 24 assists so far this season.

“It’s frustrating, I felt like we were tilting the ice,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “It’s tough to think of a moral victory at this point in the season.”

Top goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been struggling lately, losing three of his last four games. As a result, Jonas Johansson is expected to start against the Ducks.

Johansson has been a solid replacement for Vasilevskiy, though he lost his most recent start 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens. Prior to that, Johansson posted a .966 save percentage in wins over the Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, and Florida Panthers.

Johansson is 4-2-1 this season with a 3.36 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.

On Sunday, defenseman Erik Cernak will play in his 400th NHL game and is just three points away from hitting the 100-point milestone in his career.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Edmonton Oilers Beat Anaheim Ducks in Edmonton; Draisaitl’s Point Streak Reaches 13 Games

Leon Draisaitl scored with 1:35 left in the third period to help the Edmonton Oilers secure a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Place on Friday. This goal extended his point streak to 13 games. Draisaitl banked the puck off the post, beating Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal after Zach Hyman redirected a pass from Darnell Nurse to him in the right face-off circle.

Draisaitl now has 25 points during his streak (11 goals, 14 assists) and leads the NHL with 28 goals, 21 even-strength goals, and nine game-winning goals.

“I take big pride in stepping up when it is needed most,” Draisaitl said. “It is always something that is really important to me and that I pride myself in.”

Nurse added a goal and an assist, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored as well. Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 27 saves for the Oilers (23-12-3), who have won their last two games. Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s 12-game point streak was broken (23 points; three goals, 20 assists).

“A much better team effort,” Nurse said, referring to a 5-3 loss in Anaheim on Dec. 28. “It wasn’t perfect by any means, but when we were challenged at the end, we found a way to get that final blow.”

Brett Leason and Jackson LaCombe scored for the Ducks (16-18-4), who had won three games in a row before this loss. Dostal made 23 saves.

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

“I thought we played well. It’s a great team we played against, and the second of a back-to-back is tough, especially against Winnipeg in the first game,” LaCombe said. “I thought our team did a great job battling all night.”

Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring for the Oilers at 16:54 of the first period, with a sharp-angle shot that deflected off LaCombe’s stick. Nurse made it 2-0 at 7:57 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot.

Leason made it 2-1 at 18:32 of the second period, scoring on a breakaway after a pass from Evan Bouchard bounced off his stick.

“It’s disappointing. We played a heck of a period, and unfortunately, we gave up that breakaway goal at the end of the second period with a minute-and-a-half left,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We were pushing, but a mistake gave them life and put them back in the game.”

LaCombe tied the game 2-2 on a power play at 6:53 of the third, scoring with a wrist shot from the point after receiving a pass from Ryan Strome.

“It’s a long season, and we’re always taking the view that it’s a process. We have to keep staying in the process and trust each other,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “I think we got out of our structure in the second period and lost the momentum, but we got it back in the third. If we just play that way every night, we give ourselves the best chance to win.”

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

McDavid, Draisaitl, and the Oilers aim to keep their momentum going against the Ducks in Edmonton

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will try to extend their point streaks to 13 games on Friday night when the Edmonton Oilers host the Anaheim Ducks.

McDavid has three goals and 20 assists during his streak, while Draisaitl has scored 10 goals and 14 assists. Since their streaks began, the Oilers have gone 9-2-1, staying close behind the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.

“You look at our record and where we are in the standings, and two big, big reasons are Connor and Leon. How well they’ve played at both ends of the rink and then also producing offensively every single night,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “Very rarely are they held off the scoresheet, and you have success when your best players are your best players, and those two are our best players.”

Edmonton is also getting good production from forward Connor Brown, who has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in his last 24 games. Brown, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, has recently been placed on the same line as McDavid.

“I feel back to where I was pre-injury,” Brown said.

Zach Hyman’s eight-game point streak ended in a 4-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday, but McDavid, Brown, and defenseman Mattias Ekholm all stepped up with multi-point performances.

“We have a lot of different pieces in here that can play together,” said Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “It’s fun sometimes to play with other guys, get some new looks. It keeps it fresh a little bit.”

Knoblauch has mixed up the lines but the players trust that he sees things they might not.

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

“He really does things with a purpose. I don’t think he’s throwing darts at a wall,” Brown said. “Any types of decisions he made are pretty calculated. He’s a really smart coach. Also, we’ve got a lot of good players in here, so you can jumble it around and get some results a couple different ways.”

Meanwhile, the Ducks started their short two-game road trip with a 4-3 overtime win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The victory extended their winning streak to a season-high three games.

John Gibson made 25 saves for Anaheim, but Lukas Dostal is expected to start against the Oilers. Dostal made 20 saves in a 5-3 win over Edmonton on Sunday and had 32 saves in a 3-2 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

“I’ve said this repeatedly — he’s mature for his age, particularly in a goalie’s life when you’re that young, to have his maturity level,” said Ducks coach Greg Cronin. “He doesn’t get rattled. He’s got a very high standard that he sets for himself, even when he plays pucks.”

Cronin pointed out a couple of instances when Dostal covered the puck against the Devils, preventing the Ducks from changing lines.

“I saw his face, you could tell he was disappointed in himself, but you can see by his body language when little details like that slip, he immediately takes ownership of it,” Cronin said. “You always say, it’s not the number of saves, it’s the timeliness of the saves.”

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Troy Terry’s overtime goal leads the Ducks to another win over the Jets in Anaheim

Troy Terry scored his second goal of the game with 1:26 left in overtime, leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. The Ducks extended their win streak to three games.

Terry also added an assist, while Radko Gudas contributed a goal and an assist. Leo Carlsson also scored, and John Gibson made 27 saves and assisted on the game-winning goal.

For the Jets, Alex Iafallo had a goal and an assist, Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry each scored, and Josh Morrissey had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots for Winnipeg, who have now lost two straight.

Hellebuyck had been on a six-game win streak and was 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts.

Iafallo gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead with a wraparound goal at 2:44 of the third period. However, Gudas scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot while Gibson was pulled for an extra skater, tying the game at 3-3 with 1:50 remaining.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

The Jets had taken a 1-0 lead just 33 seconds into the game. Gabriel Vilardi stole the puck from Gudas and passed it to Kyle Connor, who then set up Scheifele for the opening goal.

Lowry added another for Winnipeg on a two-on-one break, assisted by Iafallo, to make it 2-0 at 17:17 of the first period.

The Ducks answered back at 18:58 of the first when Gudas took a shot from the right point. Carlsson tipped the puck off the post, and it hit the back of Hellebuyck before crossing the goal line to cut the lead to 2-1.

Terry tied the game 2-2 at 6:52 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle that slid through Hellebuyck’s pads for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Jets kick off 8-game homestand with rematch against Ducks

Good teams are quickly realizing that they can’t take their foot off the gas when facing the Anaheim Ducks.

The Winnipeg Jets learned that lesson two weeks ago in Anaheim and are unlikely to overlook the Ducks when the teams meet on Thursday, as Winnipeg kicks off an eight-game homestand.

The latest top team to fall to Anaheim was the New Jersey Devils, who lost 3-2 to the Ducks on Tuesday night, dropping them out of first place in the Metropolitan Division.

“We thought it was going to come easy,” said Devils forward Timo Meier after the loss.

Earlier, the Ducks made a comeback from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3.

In both games, Anaheim forward Ryan Strome scored the game-winning goal in the final minutes.

“We’re starting to play good hockey,” Strome said after the win against New Jersey. “We’ve got a tough couple of games coming up, but good to close the year with a win.”

After facing the Jets, the Ducks will play the Oilers again the next night in Edmonton.

Anaheim has become more dangerous due to increased contributions from their second line.

While their top line of Strome, Troy Terry, and Frank Vatrano has been successful, Mason McTavish, Cutter Gauthier, and Robby Fabbri are now starting to click as well.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

The trio has combined for seven goals and eight assists in the last five games.

“We are communicating well on the ice, on the bench,” Fabbri said. “We are just complementing each other right now. Cutter is skating great, creating plays. McTavish is playing like a horse out there. It’s just going well right now. We’re just trying to ride the high.”

In their previous meeting on December 18, the Jets were leading Anaheim 2-1 with five minutes left, but the Ducks scored twice, including the go-ahead goal from Terry with just 26 seconds remaining.

After that loss, the Jets won four straight games to increase their lead in the Central Division. However, their streak was snapped in a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday in Denver, with the score tied heading into the final period.

“Any time you can go into the third period tied 2-2 in this rink, you hope that you can come out on the right side of it,” said Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel. “We didn’t.”

The Jets were playing their third game in four days after returning from the Christmas break, and they had hosted the Nashville Predators the night before.

“We’re all pros,” said Jets defenseman Neal Pionk. “We’ve been through it before, and we get some teams at home that go through that travel, so we can’t use that as an excuse.”

In Winnipeg’s long homestand, the first three games are against teams with losing records. The Jets have been one of the best home teams in the NHL, with a 14-3-1 record.

“At the end of the day, it would have been nice to dig in a little more and find a way to come up with a win against Colorado,” Jets forward Morgan Barron said. “The effort is there. It’s just about finding ways to make those plays at the end of the game. We’re a resilient group. We know that. We’ll reset, go home, and get on a streak here.”

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Ducks blow two-goal lead but hold on to defeat Devils

Ryan Strome scored the game-winning goal with 3:24 left as the Anaheim Ducks held on for a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, despite blowing a two-goal lead.

Troy Terry and Robby Fabbri scored the Ducks’ first two goals, but they lost the lead in just under eight minutes in the third period. Strome finished with two points, as did Frank Vatrano, who had two assists.

Strome broke the 2-2 tie after receiving a cross-ice pass from Jackson LaCombe. He took his time above the right faceoff circle before firing a slapshot that went through traffic, past a screened Jacob Markstrom, and into the upper right corner of the net.

Strome’s goal came after Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier had scored for the Devils, who have now lost two straight games. The Ducks have won two in a row.

Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal made 32 saves, including eight on two New Jersey power plays in the first period. He also stopped Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton six times each.

Dostal made two big saves on Hughes during a power play and also stopped Hughes in the first minute of the second period after a turnover behind the Anaheim net.

New Jersey Devils (NHL)

The Ducks earned their fifth win in eight games and scored on their first shot against Markstrom, who made 23 saves and saw his six-game winning streak come to an end.

Midway through the first period, Vatrano took the puck from defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic behind the net and passed it to Terry. Terry shot the puck over Markstrom’s glove from the outer edge of the right circle.

Fabbri extended Anaheim’s lead with a goal on a two-on-one with Cutter Gauthier at 3:57 of the third period, just after Brian Dumoulin forced a turnover from New Jersey defenseman Brett Pesce.

Fabbri had been stopped on a breakaway late in the second period.

Siegenthaler ended Dostal’s shutout bid with a shot from the left point that deflected off Anaheim’s Brett Leason and into the net at 5:31 of the third period.

Meier tied the game 2-2 by scoring on a feed from Hamilton while falling to the ice with 6:40 remaining, just moments after Anaheim’s Mason McTavish was denied on a breakaway.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Strome’s Late Goal Lifts Ducks to 5-3 Win Over Oilers, Ending Edmonton’s Streak

The Anaheim Ducks secured a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Honda Center on Sunday, thanks to a late tie-breaking goal by Ryan Strome. With just 2:36 remaining in the third period, Strome came out from behind the net and banked the puck off Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard’s pad, sending it across the goal line. After a video review, the goal was confirmed, putting the Ducks up 4-3. Strome had hesitated to celebrate initially, given his team’s recent near-misses, but expressed relief when the goal was finally counted. Mason McTavish sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

McTavish was part of a strong offensive effort from the Ducks, alongside Cutter Gauthier and Robby Fabbri, each of whom contributed a goal and an assist. Lukas Dostal played a solid game in the net, recording 20 saves. This victory was important for Anaheim as it followed a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers the previous day, and the Ducks were able to build on their recent improvement, with their chemistry on display, particularly in the performance of Gauthier’s line.

Strome’s Late Goal Lifts Ducks to 5-3 Win Over Oilers, Ending Edmonton's Streak
Strome’s Late Goal Lifts Ducks to 5-3 Win Over Oilers, Ending Edmonton’s Streak

The Oilers, despite strong individual performances from Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, who both extended their point streaks, struggled in this game. Draisaitl scored two goals, and McDavid registered two assists. Evan Bouchard also added a goal and an assist for Edmonton, but they couldn’t maintain their momentum. The Oilers’ goalie, Calvin Pickard, made 27 saves in the loss. This marked the first time Edmonton had lost consecutive games since mid-November.

Edmonton took an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal from Draisaitl at 8:03 of the first period, assisted by McDavid. Bouchard extended the lead to 2-0 later in the period, capitalizing on a rush initiated by Viktor Arvidsson. The Ducks responded with a goal from Gauthier, cutting the Oilers’ lead to 2-1. Despite being outshot and under pressure, Anaheim managed to stay in the game with timely goals.

In the second period, McDavid and Draisaitl connected again on a power-play goal, giving Edmonton a 3-1 advantage. However, Anaheim mounted a comeback, with Drew Helleson scoring on a wrist shot that deflected off Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse. Fabbri then tied the game at 3-3 with a one-timer, setting the stage for Strome’s decisive goal. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch expressed disappointment, noting that the team should have maintained their lead when up by two goals.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Flyers focus on improving defense against the Ducks

Both the Philadelphia Flyers and Anaheim Ducks have had several days to reflect on their most recent loss.

After the holiday break, both teams are set to face off on Saturday in Anaheim.

Philadelphia has struggled recently, losing four of their last five games, including a tough 7-3 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game of a six-game road trip. The Flyers allowed four goals in the first period and couldn’t recover against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.

“We’ve had some slow starts,” Flyers winger Noah Cates said. “But when we do (the right things), we’re really hard to play against.”

During their current 1-4-0 stretch, coach John Tortorella’s team has given up 28 goals.

“It was a little bit of everything,” Tortorella said. “We get back, we try to get better.”

One player who needs to improve is rookie Matvei Michkov, who hasn’t scored in eight straight games and has not recorded a point in the last six. He also has a minus-11 rating in his last five games.

“‘Mich’ has leveled off,” Tortorella said. “It’s been a bit of a struggle for him. He was a very important part of giving us life on the power play. He continues to work at it.”

Michkov and the Flyers will look for a more consistent performance against a Ducks team that has also faced its share of challenges this season.

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

Anaheim has lost two of its last three games. In the one win during that stretch, the Ducks had to come from behind, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to beat the Utah Hockey Club 5-4 in a shootout.

However, the momentum from that victory didn’t carry over into Monday’s 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, marking the Ducks’ seventh loss in 10 games (3-6-1).

“I love the effort. I thought we competed hard,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said.

The Ducks have struggled offensively, ranking last in the league with just 82 goals this season. Only two other teams have scored fewer than 90 goals as of Friday, the Nashville Predators (84) and Detroit Red Wings (88).

While the Flyers have scored a decent 108 goals, they have allowed 130, which ranks as the third-highest total in the NHL as of Friday.

The Ducks, on the other hand, have given up 103 goals, putting them in the middle of the pack. The strength of their defense has been goaltenders John Gibson and Lukas Dostal, though Gibson had to leave Monday’s game early after taking a high stick near his eye.

Despite this, the Ducks fought hard before Dostal gave up two goals in the final 11 minutes.

“The effort was there. We were battling until the end,” veteran defenseman Radko Gudas said. “The boys left everything out there. We gave it our all. Unfortunately, we had some costly mistakes, and they made us pay. They’re an experienced team, and they made us pay for those mistakes we made in the third.”

This will be the first meeting between the Flyers and Ducks this season. The teams will face each other again in Philadelphia on January 11.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Troy Terry’s goal in the final moments lifts Ducks over Jets

Troy Terry scored with 26 seconds left in the game to give the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

While the puck was deep in Winnipeg’s zone, defenseman Neal Pionk tried to clear it, but Anaheim’s Frank Vatrano managed to deflect it. The loose puck went straight to Terry, who was wide open in front of the net and scored the game-winning goal.

Vatrano contributed two goals and an assist, and Radko Gudas recorded two assists.

The Ducks have now won two games in a row, and this victory ended a long losing streak against the Jets. Anaheim had been 0-8-0 against them since the 2021-22 season.

Lukas Dostal made 21 saves on 23 shots, earning his seventh win of the season.

Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets, while Kyle Connor had two assists.

Jets goaltender Eric Comrie stopped 28 of 31 shots. He was especially sharp early in the game, as Anaheim outshot Winnipeg 12-4 in the scoreless first period.

Winnipeg Jets (NHL)

The Ducks continued to pressure in the second period, outshooting the Jets 10-4. They finally scored at 4:45 when Gudas fired a shot from the blue line that Vatrano tipped in.

The Jets did not get their first shot on goal in the second period until 9:49. However, a roughing penalty on Anaheim’s Ross Johnston gave Winnipeg’s top power play a chance to score. At 10:24, Nikolaj Ehlers passed from the circle to Vilardi, who scored in front to make it 1-1. This was Vilardi’s sixth power-play goal and 14th of the season.

Connor made a great individual play to set up Winnipeg’s go-ahead goal at 4:13 of the third period. He took the puck behind his net, raced into Anaheim’s zone, and passed to Scheifele for a one-timer.

Vatrano scored again at 15:14, as his long shot beat a screened Comrie to tie the game.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Jets soaring as they prepare to take on the Ducks

The Winnipeg Jets will try to extend their strong record against the Anaheim Ducks when they face off on Wednesday.

Since the 2016-17 season, the Jets have dominated the Ducks, with a 16-2-1 record in their last 19 games, including an 8-0-0 streak in their last eight meetings.

If the Ducks win on Wednesday, it would be considered an upset based on their previous matchups and their current positions in the standings. Winnipeg is currently leading the NHL with 47 points, boasting a 23-9-1 record, while Anaheim is at the bottom of the Pacific Division with an 11-14-4 record and 26 points.

Anaheim will have a rest advantage, as the Jets are coming off a quick turnaround after a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. The Ducks, on the other hand, haven’t played since Saturday, when they broke a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In that game, despite the Blue Jackets leading 17-5 in shots during the third period, the Ducks’ Jackson LaCombe scored to tie the game at 17:14, forcing it into overtime. Alex Killorn then scored the game-winner in overtime. The Ducks ended a tough road trip with one win in four games.

“I liked three of our games this trip. We just couldn’t find a way to get points,” Ducks forward Ryan Strome said. “So to find a way in the last one … I thought we played a good, hard game. We didn’t give up. We found a way to win.”

Anaheim Ducks (NHL)

Winnipeg also made a comeback against San Jose, overcoming a 3-2 deficit in the third period. Adam Lowry scored the game-winner with 73 seconds left, following a power-play goal from Kyle Connor earlier in the period.

The Jets have the best power play in the NHL with a 31.7 percent success rate (32 of 101). Ten players have scored on the power play, with Connor leading the way with eight goals.

Connor explained the success of the team’s power play: “We make it a focal point to adjust to how they’re killing and be dynamic and unpredictable. I think we’ve done a great job of that this year. (We’re) just scoring different ways every single time. It’s everybody chipping in.”

The Ducks will have to improve their penalty-kill, as their 72.5 percent success rate is among the worst in the league, to counter the Jets’ dangerous power play.

Winnipeg is 5-1-1 in their last seven games. The Jets’ top line, featuring Connor (six goals, five assists), Gabriel Vilardi (four goals, six assists), and Mark Scheifele (four goals, six assists), has combined for 31 points during that stretch.

Anaheim’s Troy Terry, who leads the Ducks with 24 points this season, has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in his last 10 games.

The Ducks’ goaltenders, John Gibson and Lukas Dostal, have been sharing the starting duties, but Gibson might get another chance after his strong 39-save performance in Columbus.

Since Connor Hellebuyck played on Tuesday, Jets backup goalie Eric Comrie will start on Wednesday. Comrie has a 3-4-0 record with a 3.05 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage in seven starts.