Jets squander an early 3rd period two goal lead and drop a thrilling 5-4 overtime loss against the Ducks

The Jets defeated the last place Canucks on Wednesday night 3-2 on the road in Vancouver. The Jets battled throughout this game playing the style they wanted, before a Cole Perfetti OT goal led them to victory. Tonight, the Jets played their second of three straight road games after returning from the Olympic break in Anaheim against the Ducks. With just a week before the NHL trade deadline, plenty of scouts from around the NHL were in attendance as they keep their eyes on possible trade targets from the Jets. The 23-26-8 Jets took on the 31-23-3 Ducks, with both teams looking for two points in this Western Conference matchup.

There were a few notable changes to the Jets line combinations tonight, as several players were cycled back into the lineup as more players return from the break, while some remain injured. Gustav Nyquist was on the 3rd line with Jonathan Toews and Vladislav Namestnikov. Tanner Pearson was on the 4th line with Cole Koepke and Morgan Barron. Logan Stanley remained on the top defence pairing with Dylan DeMelo while Morrissey remains out, and Ville Heinola stayed on the 3rd pairing after making his Jets season debut last game.

Connor Hellebuyck got the start in goal, as Hellebuyck made his first start since returning from his gold medal performance in Italy at the Olympics. The Jets lineup is still dealing with several injuries, including Nino Niederreiter, who was added to the injury report yesterday. Hellebuyck entered tonight’s game with 13-16-7 record, a 2.79 GAA and a .900 SV%. Tonight’s game started out quite nicely for the Jets, but in the end it was the Ducks winning 5-4 late in overtime after erasing a two goal deficit (in a win) for the 9th time this regular season.

1st Period

Tonight’s game began with the Jets scoring on their first shot of the game just 84 seconds after puck drop. Dylan Samberg entered the Ducks zone and dropped the puck off to Cole Perfetti. Not wasting any time, Perfetti made a nice pass across the ice to Alex Iafallo, who snapped the puck past Lukas Dostal for his 10th goal of the season.

Logan Stanley took the game’s first penalty about 3 minutes later, but the Jets held off the Ducks first powerplay of the night. The Ducks began getting some scoring chances of their own after this opening goal, and the shots on goal after 10 minutes were only 4 to 2 for the Ducks.

A few minutes later Luke Schenn and Ross Johnston dropped the gloves in a heavyweight tilt. This game had its fair share of physicality early on, and this fight only sparked the early energy from both teams. Olen Zellweger took a tripping penalty on Gabriel Vilardi, sending the Jets to their first powerplay of the night with about 6 minutes left in the 1st. The Jets had some quality chances and hit a few posts, but this game remained 1-0 late into the 1st.

Shots on goal after the first 20 minutes of play were 9-7 for the Jets, as both teams continued to push for that next important goal.

2nd Period

The Jets got an early powerplay in the 2nd after Pavel Mintyukov was called for hooking on Adam Lowry. Less than a minute into the man advantage, Logan Stanley found Kyle Connor near the faceoff dot, and Connor waited and found Gabriel Vilardi in the slot. Vilardi fired a snap shot top corner that quickly went in and out of the net, and the Jets now had a 2-0 lead on Vilardi’s 23rd goal of the season.

Now up two goals, the Jets began settling down in this game as the 2nd period rolled on. Hellebuyck looked sharp in his first game back from the Olympics, and did more than his part in keeping the Jets in the lead throughout most of this game. Shots on goal at the halfway point were tied at 17.

The Ducks continued to push for their first goal of the night, but Hellebuyck continued to remain perfect. With 41 seconds to go in the 2nd, the Ducks finally got on the board courtesy of a point shot from Jacob Trouba. After a scramble in front, Ian Moore and Tim Washe got the puck back to the point, where Trouba fired a wrist shot past a crowd in front and behind Hellebuyck to make it 2-1.

At the end of the 2nd the Ducks had some momentum going into the 3rd, but the Jets held on to a 2-1 lead. The Ducks had the slight edge in shots on goal after 40 minutes, outshooting the Jets 24-22. It was “anyone’s game” going into the 3rd, and the Jets would look to respond to the Ducks strong final push at the end of the 2nd.

3rd Period

The 3rd period started just how the 1st started for the Jets, with an early goal. This time it was just 87 seconds after puck drop, when Elias Salomonsson sniped home his first career NHL goal. Alex Iafallo and Adam Lowry set up Salomonsson at the point, and after gathering the puck Salomonsson made no mistake and fired home a shot that Dostal didn’t have much chance of saving,

Similar to the 1st period, the Ducks began battling back after a Jets goal, and about 4 minutes later Tanner Pearson took a tripping penalty. After the Ducks were set up, Beckett Sennecke and Jackson LaCombe created a scramble in front of Hellebuyck. Leo Carlsson was there to collect the puck from the LaCombe deflection, and he wristed it quickly past Hellebuyck for his 20th goal of the season, lowering the Jets lead back to just one.

The Ducks weren’t giving up without a fight tonight. As the TSN broadcast would soon after mention, the Ducks have battled back to win when trailing by two goals eight times already this season. A few minutes after those words were spoken, the Ducks tied this game at three a piece. Drew Helleson and Beckett Sennecke set up Pavel Mintyukov for a rebound in front that was snapped into the open half of the net.

With just over 5 minutes to go, Tim Washe took a hooking penalty, giving the Jets a late powerplay. Moments after the powerplay expired, Ryan Poehling scored his 6th goal of the season after a fantatstic individual effort which was set up shortly prior by Mintyukov and Killorn.

The momentum was now almost all in the Ducks favour, and it was now time for the Jets to battle back. With around 2 minutes left the Jets pulled the goalie. The Jets top players got set up, and shortly after Logan Stanley and Cole Perfetti set up Kyle Connor in a prime shooting location, and he wristed one rapidly past Dostal for his 27th goal of the season to tie this wild game at 4.

In a game that started quite physical and without many scoring chances, this game ramped up dramatically in the final frame. After 60 minutes, this game remained tied at 4, with the Ducks still slightly ahead in the shots on goal department, 35-30.

Overtime

With how the end of the 3rd period unfolded, you had a feeling that this would be an exciting 3 on 3 overtime. Teams traded chances as the overtime started at a fast pace. This was the Jets’ 2nd straight game with overtime, so you could tell that they had a plan going into these extra five minutes. It was looking like this game was headed to shootout, but with just 13 seconds left, the Ducks scored on their 5th shot of overtime.

Beckett Sennecke entered the Jets zone on a rush, and after a chance in front, Chris Kreider collected a rebound and slid the puck past Hellebuyck for his 20th goal of the season. The Ducks erased a two goal deficit for the 9th time this regular season, as they battled back down 3-1 to win this game 5-4 in overtime. Final shots on goal were 40-33 for the Ducks, as the Jets leave Anaheim with a single point.

Up Next

The Jets will now travel to San Jose tomorrow to prepare for their final game on this three game road trip. Their regular season schedule continues at SAP Center with a game against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday afternoon. Puck drop for this game will be just after 3:00 pm CT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for all of the latest Jets news (including the upcoming trade deadline), plus previews and recaps on each Jets game this season.

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