Jets Open Homestand with Overtime Loss to Anaheim

Troy Terry scored the overtime winner for Anaheim, as the Jets fell to 27-11-2 with an overtime loss to the visiting Ducks on Thursday.

Despite starting the party early, the Jets ran out of steam in the late stages of the game, and ultimately dropped the contest by way of a late-game comeback off the sticks of Radio Gudas and Troy Terry.

"We did a lot of good things at points in the game and gave them momentum at other points," said Jets' defenceman Josh Morrissey, who picked up two assists on the night.

"We did a decent job of generating zone time. They're a man-on-man team so we tried to, sometimes that ups your zone time. I still thought we were getting pucks to the net and getting some chances. We did some good things. Just disappointed that we gave up the second point there."

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The Ducks' goal ironically played a key role in the overtime period, twice being the key focus of the on-ice officials, and serving as the non-call resulting directly in the game-winner.

Thursday evening's Western Conference matchup also marked the start of a season-high, eight-game homestand for the Jets, which will play the remaining seven games over the course of 15 days.

Before fans at Canada Life Centre even had the chance to find their seats, Scheifele put the Jets on the board. He did so off a nifty passing play from linemates Gabe Vilardi and Kyle Connor, striking just 33 seconds into the game.

The 1-0 lead would hold most of the opening frame. But it was captain Adam Lowry who got Winnipeg's second goal, cashing in on a two-on-one setup pass from Alex Iafallo with 2:43 left in the period.

Ducks' captain Radko Gudas helped the visitors back into the game shortly thereafter, picking up the primary assist on a Leo Carlsson redirection tally. The puck was perfectly tipped before bouncing off the post, off Hellebuyck and into the net.

Winnipeg led 2-1 after 20 minutes, while owning 10 shots to Anaheim's seven to start the second period.

The Ducks got right back into it in the middle stanza, with Troy Terry finding a way through Hellebuyck on a one-timer seven minutes in. Beating the all-star goaltender five-hole was Terry, who tied it up at twos with the lone goal of the frame.

The Jets maintained their shot lead with a 19-14 advantage through 40 minutes of play.

“I thought our second period was probably our worst period," head coach Scott Arniel said.

"I thought in the first, we were great and we had all kinds of opportunities, got the lead and then, in the second period, through the neutral zone, we turned some pucks over and kind of let them get into some rush situations and in the third, we went out and dominated. We got the lead again late and gave up that (tying goal). A little bit of the mental side of things. With four (games) in six (days), I’m not using that as an excuse but when you start seeing those kinds of mistakes, it has to drop into there somehow.”

With both teams taking a rather cautious third period approach, it took until the 57-minute mark for the fun to begin.

First, it was Iafallo, who picked up a loose puck in front of Gibson, and raced around behind the net for the go-ahead wraparound tally with 17:16 remaining.

“Just trying to get it to the net, honestly," Iafallo said of his goal. "A nice shot up top and trying to crash the net and hopefully hit something, hit somebody back door or whatever and luckily it was open.”

But with Gibson on the bench for the extra attacker, Gudas hammered a blistering one-timer through Hellebuyck just 54 seconds later, once again deadlocking the two clubs, sending the game to overtime.

Moments after Gibson got away with kicking the net off resulting in a stoppage in play amid a strong Jets attack, the Ducks found the winner off another loose net situation.

With Cole Perfetti driving the Ducks' goal and taking out Gibson and the net, Anaheim picked the puck up and raced the length of the ice on a two-on-one - all while the Ducks' net remained dislodged - with Troy Terry burying the winner with 1:26 remaining.

Hellebuyck finished the night with 21 stops on 24 shots, while Gibson turned aside 27 of the 30 Jets pucks fired his way.

Next up for the Jets is the second test of the eight-game homestand. The Detroit Red Wings will travel to Manitoba for the Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night affair.