Another killer comeback: Ducks sink Jets with third-period surge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2015 (3796 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

wfpvideo:4181830535001:wfpvideo

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Closer, but still no cigar.

Jakob Silfverberg’s goal with 19.8 seconds left in regulation time snapped a 1-1 deadlock and lifted the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in the first-round Stanley Cup playoff game at Honda Center. The Ducks now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, with Game 3 Monday night at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre.

The team’s were playing another tight, even and rugged affair when a puck was rimmed back behind the Jets’ net in the final minute of the third. When Jets centre Bryan Little went to get it, Silfverberg was positioned below Little and grabbed the Winnipeg player’s stick when he moved toward the puck. Little fell, Silfverberg wound up with the puck and circled out in front of the Winnipeg goal and snapped a high shot to the short side past Ondrej Pavelec to decide the game.

The Ducks, who set an NHL record with 18 comebacks to win games they trailed at some point in the third period, did it again.

They took Game 1 with another one of those, 4-2.

For the second straight game, the Jets took a lead to the third period.

This one, 1-0, was thanks to a goal late in the second period by defenceman Adam Pardy.

His wraparound play to the left of Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen went off the netminder’s skate and into the net while the Jets’ Lee Stempniak was exiting the crease. He had been pushed into the Anaheim net by Ducks forward Ryan Kesler.

Referees Jean Hebert and Marc Joannette and their two linesmen had a long conference after the play to confirm the goal, a play which was not reviewable.

And for a second straight game, the Ducks tied the score with a third-period power-play goal.

Right after François Beauchemin clipped Pardy with a high stick — Pardy failed to throw his head back to draw attention to it — Andrew Ladd was whistled for a high stick on Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf.

On the advantage, Cam Fowler’s point shot hit Patrick Maroon and went into the net, while Maroon was parked in Ondrej Pavelec’s blue paint.

Mathieu returns

The near-soap-opera surrounding the health of Jets left-winger Mathieu Perreault broke well for the Jets on Saturday night.

Perreault was inserted into the starting lineup for Game 2 after missing the opener.

He appeared to be skating gingerly at times in the last few days, but Saturday morning, looked more agile and quick in the morning skate.

He said then he was feeling better than in recent days and took the pre-game warmup.

That’s still no commitment to play, but Jets coach Paul Maurice obviously saw and heard enough good things about Perreault’s health to dress him.

Perreault, who assisted on Pardy’s second-period marker, played 14 minutes four seconds.

Adam enters

Perreault wasn’t the only addition to Winnipeg’s lineup on Saturday.

The Jets opted for big Pardy in place of rookie Ben Chiarot for Game 2.

Pardy was paired with Dustin Byfuglien and played 17:32.

Dubious start

The Jets looked to be in trouble Saturday right out of the gate. They took two penalties in the game’s first seven minutes, the second putting them down two men for 23 seconds.

Goalie Ondrej Pavelec helped them weather the storm. At the end of the five-on-three, the game shots were 14-2 in the home team’s favour.

Many minors

From there, the game turned more even and it was the Ducks who were on and over the edge a few times.

Anaheim had four minors after that, but the bad news for the Jets was their power play wasn’t very assertive or confident.

They especially didn’t take advantage of two egregious fouls by Anaheim’s Ryan Kesler, who was penalized in the first when he picked off the head of Winnipeg defenceman Tyler Myers and in the second when he charged and elbowed Toby Enstrom in the head.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca