Winnipeg Jets blow two-goal lead in third, fall in OT to Ducks 5-4 – Winnipeg

In a season full of demoralizing losses for the Winnipeg Jets, this one might take the cake.

With the trade deadline a week away and needing to play close to perfect hockey to keep their faint glimmer of hope alive, they threw away a pair of two-goal leads in an eventual 5-4 overtime loss in Anaheim Friday night.

Winnipeg got the ball rolling early in the first, opening the scoring just 1:24 into the contest.

Dylan Samberg skated the puck up the ice and into the Anaheim end before dropping it to his left to Cole Perfetti. He then sent a cross-ice pass to Alex Iafallo, who took a moment to gather the pass before rifling a shot that took just the slighted deflection off an Anaheim defender and ramped past the right shoulder of Lukas Dostal.

The goal was Iafallo’s tenth of the season and first in 11 games.

The scored stayed 1-0 after 20 minutes as both teams failed to convert a power play chance. Winnipeg also hit the post twice while Anaheim also rang iron once as the Jets outshot the Ducks 9-7.

The Jets doubled their lead early in the second period, though it wasn’t without a cost.

Adam Lowry drew a holding penalty after getting free for a partial breakaway, but before the Ducks touched the puck, Lowry lost an edge and fell to the ice, and as he slid along the ice the ankle of Vladislav Namestnikov got awkwardly twisted as it got tangled up with Lowry’s legs.

Namestnikov needed a moment before he got up and gingerly left the ice, heading to the locker room where he would remain for the duration of the game.

On the ensuing power play, the Jets worked the puck around the Anaheim zone before Kyle Connor fed Gabriel Vilardi for a quick-trigger snapshot from the slot that glanced off the shaft of Dostal’s stick and into the net at the 2:25 mark.

It was Vilardi’s 23rd goal of the season and team-leading eighth power play marker.

Just over a minute later, Winnipeg earned their third power play of the night but it was Anaheim who managed to get a shorthanded 3-on-1. Thanks in part to a good defensive play by Ville Heinola, the Ducks weren’t able to get a great shot on goal, and moments later a Cole Perfetti shot squeezed through Dostal before hitting the post, though it was then cleared to safety.

Each side took turns generating chances throughout the period, with both goalies playing well but in the final minute of the second, the Ducks finally broke through.

In the midst of a long shift in the Winnipeg end, the puck found its way to the point where Jacob Trouba fired a shot that Connor Hellebuyck tried to catch with his glove but he didn’t get it cleanly, causing a shot that may have been going wide to flutter over his shoulder and into the goal with 40.9 seconds to go.

It was Trouba’s third career goal against the team that drafted him ninth overall in 2012.

The shot totals in the second were large, with the Ducks getting 17 on net and the Jets responding with 13.

Anaheim nearly tied it in the opening minute of the third when a point shot was deflected in front by Chris Kreider but it hit the post, and just moments later, Winnipeg restored their two-goal lead.

The Ducks had possession of the puck in their own end when it appeared that Perfetti hauled Mason McTavish. Play continued as Anaheim protested with Iafallo keeping it in at the point, sending it to Lowry in the slot. He dropped it to a hard-charging Elias Salomonsson, whose wrist shot beat Dostal from distance for his first NHL goal.

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The Ducks cut into the lead again on the power play when Leo Carlsson banged home a loose puck in front with 6:32 gone in the third.

Just over three minutes later, the game was tied. Beckett Sennecke sent a shot on goal from distance that Hellebuyck stopped but he coughed up a juicy rebound that Pavel Mintyukov buried at the 9:59 mark.

Winnipeg had a great opportunity to take the lead on a power play with just over five minutes left. Anaheim, however, got the kill, and not long after, took their first lead of the night.

Ryan Poehling got the puck just inside his own blueline and dashed up the ice with Jonathan Toews on his hip. He managed to get free of Toews before slipping through both Dylan DeMelo and Dylan Samberg, losing the handle on the puck for a brief moment before chipping a shot on goal that eluded Hellebuyck. It was a fantastic individual effort that also exploited some defensive deficiencies on the Jets.

Winnipeg would not go down without a fight, however. With the goalie pulled, Stanley missed the net from the point. Trouba was in position to track down the rebound and get a clear, but a great stick-check by Vilardi allowed Perfetti to get control of the puck and make a slick pass that Connor one-timed into the net, his 27th of the year sending the game to overtime.

Both teams had their share of chances in OT and it seemed that the game was destined for a shootout.

But in the dying seconds, Sennecke and Kreider got free on a 2-on-1. Sennecke held the puck as he made a move around a sliding Samberg, sending the puck across to Kreider who jammed it home to seal the win.

Making his first start since winning Olympic gold on Sunday, Hellebuyck allowed five goals on 40 shots, his record falling to 1-4-4 over his last nine NHL starts with a 3.20 goals against average and .892 save percentage.

The Jets will wrap up this three-game road trip in San Jose on Sunday.