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Anaheim Ducks late punch sets up sweep of the Jets

The Winnipeg Jets keep breaking hearts all over Manitoba in the playoffs.

Winnipeg held a lead entering the third period for the third straight game in this first round series against the Anaheim Ducks. And the Jets were totally going to not blow it this time, like they did in Games 1 and 2. Right? Wrong. Totally wrong. They somehow did it again in a 5-4 loss to Anaheim.

Now, Winnipeg is down 0-3 against the Ducks. The Jets franchise – which goes back to the Atlanta Thrashers – has yet to win a playoff game.

"We don’t stop believing in that room," said Ryan Kesler per the Winnipeg Free Press. "It has been like that all year. To do it in the playoffs in three straight games, it’s pretty special, and there is something special growing in that locker room right now."

Kesler scored the game-tying goal for Anaheim with 2:14 left in regulation. Rickard Rakell tipped in a Francois Beauchemin shot at the 5:12 mark of OT for the game-winner.

"We had a good forecheck going there and Cogs made a good pass up to Beauch, Beauch made a great shot to find my blade there and I just tried to deflect it to the net," Rakell said. "It felt good.

Said Jets forward Blake Wheeler via the Winnipeg Sun:

“Yeah, it’s hard. It’ just more of the same. We lead the whole damn series and we’re 0-3. That’s the way it goes. That’s hockey. We just have to find a way to get that first one.”

According to TSN’s Rick Ralph, the Jets have led for 65:53 of this series. The Ducks, 11:21. The Ducks do deserve credit for being an excellent third period team. But in hockey, if you have a third period lead in three straight games in the playoffs, losing all three is pretty bad.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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