Jets drop 4-3 decision to Ducks in shootout to end road trip

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This article was published 26/01/2018 (2786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – They likely needed some extra ice bags for the overnight plane ride home. But the Winnipeg Jets can soothe their pain a bit with the fact they survived a physical tilt with the Anaheim Ducks and at least came away with a valuable point.

Rookie Jack Roslovic scored his first-ever National Hockey League goal with 13:41 left to play in the third period to tie the game. And while Winnipeg would ultimately fall 4-3 in a shootout Thursday night, players were choosing to look at the glass as being half-full.

They head into the All-Star break in first place in the Central division, with a 29-13-8 record. That includes going 3-0-1 this past week.

“I think that was exactly what we expected. They’re a good team over there and they’re not going to give up. And we’re not going to give up. I think when you see two heavyweights like that, teams that know how to play and have good chemistry, that’s the type of game you’re going to get,” said goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Incredibly, Winnipeg didn’t generate any more shots on goal following the Roslovic marker including the five minute overtime session. That means they went more than 18 minutes without putting a puck on net and that includes the final 6:40 of the third period when backup goalie Ryan Miller had to come in for injured starter John Gibson.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Miller is just the fifth goalie in the last 40 years to get a win despite not facing any shots. He saw no rubber in more than 11 minutes of action including overtime. He did, however, stop all five Jets in the shootout.

“It was a good old grinder there,” said coach Paul Maurice. “But a good road game for us at the end of this week, four (games) in six (days). Got to put some miles on the airplane and got a bunch of points. Lost the shootout, it’s disappointing, but it was a good grinder.”

There were a total of 70 hits in the game, with 35 being thrown by each team. Highlights included a Ryan Getzlaf bodyslam of Blake Wheeler, and Dustin Byfuglien later doing the same to Ryan Kesler.

“Anytime you play these guys it’s physical, especially in this building. I think they were trying to limit our time and space. That’s a team that has a lot of big bodies, a lot of experience playing big games, playoff games. We didn’t shy away, we were in every corner with them,” Wheeler said following the game.

Roslovic had been looking dangerous in recent games, so finally getting on the scoresheet seemed to come as a relief.

“It was good. I’ve had a lot of chances lately so it was good to pop the first one and tie the game up there late,” he said.

Maurice had switched his lines for the game, putting Roslovic on the No. 1 unit with Wheeler and Patrik Laine, while moving Kyle Connor down into a trio with Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano.

The new-look top line paid off almost immediately. Roslovic won a puck battle in the corner, and Getzlaf’s attempt to sweep the puck to safety ended up on the stick of Laine. The sophomore sniper made no mistake, beating John Gibson for his 22nd goal of the year just 3:35 into the game.

It looked like Roslovic might have recorded his first-ever National Hockey League point. But alas, the often generous official scorers wouldn’t oblige, as Getzlaf getting his stick on the puck negated any assist.

The same line that giveth quickly taketh away. Roslovic failed to clear the puck out of his own end, and the Jets got running around. Laine then had another chance to get it out, only to get stripped by Adam Henrique while trying to make a move rather than a simple chip. Henrique then buried a wrister past Hellebuyck to tie it 6:48 in.

Winnipeg looked to have taken a 2-1 lead when Bryan Little put the puck over a fallen Gibson. But it was immediately waved off, with linemate Mathieu Perreault flagged for goalie interference on the play. Replays showed his arm appeared to catch Gibson’s head.

The Ducks jumped ahead just 1:24 into the middle frame after a great shift by their third line. Nick Richie deflected a shot by Henrique past Hellebuyck.

But the Jets roared right back, taking advantage of an Anaheim turnover. Jacob Trouba and Brandon Tanev found themselves on an unlikely two-on-none break. Trouba – who was the best Jets player all night – showed great patience, eventually feeding Tanev for his fourth of the season.

Winnipeg got a scare later in the period when defenceman Ben Chiarot took a hard shot to the face. He was down briefly and went to the room for some repairs, but returned. Chiarot was in the lineup for Dmitry Kulikov, who got hurt one game prior in San Jose.

The teams continued to trade chances. Laine just missed finishing a deke at one end, and a huge stretch pass sent the Ducks in on a two-on-none the other way. Toby Enstrom took a slashing penalty on the play, which ended with Anaheim just missing the net.

Ryan Kesler put the Ducks back in front with just over 14 minutes left in the third on a strange one. He spun around and fired a shot that somehow beat a surprised Hellebuyck.

But then Roslovic responded moments later with his milestone marker. A great zone entry by Trouba ended with a bad clearing attempt by Getzlaf, which ended up right on Roslovic’s stick. He wasted no time.

“It was a big night for him, a big goal for us,” said Wheeler. “Big goal, big moment, he’ll remember that forever.”

Gibson was knocked out of the game with just under seven minutes left after Wheeler lost and edge and crashed into the Anaheim goaltender. He appeared to suffer a lower-body injury on the play. That forced Miller off the bench.

Anaheim outshot Winnipeg 6-0 in the three-on-three overtime session, with the Jets barely touching the puck.

Henrique scored the only goal of the shootout, while Little, Laine, Wheeler, Hendricks and Perreault all being denied.

Anaheim finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play, while Winnipeg went 0-for-2.

Hellebuyck stopped 36 of 39 shots he faced. Winnipeg fired 27 on the Anaheim goal, but only four in total in the third period and overtime.

Winnipeg is an incredible 23-1-5 when scoring the first goal this season.

The Jets will now enjoy three full days off – save for Hellebuyck and Wheeler who are headed to Tampa Bay for the All-Star game. The team will reconvene Monday for practice, then kick off a 10-game homestand on Tuesday at Bell MTS Place.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg