ANAHEIM—Winnipeghad the game locked, when they let the wild animal out of the cage. At a time where beating one of the best teams in the NHL was a possibility, it all came crumbling down, as the Ducks scored five unanswered to win in overtime 5-4 at the Honda Center Monday night. Stephane Robidas scored the game winning goal 16 seconds into it to win their second straight.
Both teams had nothing to lose, but more to gain in terms of how the match would be played out. The Jets could defeat the best team in the Western Conference or the Ducks could just gain two more points. It was all Winnipeg in the first period as the team came out in a thrust of offense shooting hard on Ducks netminder Frederik Andersen.
They broke through 8:48 into the game, where Jacob Trouba scored by sneaking up from the far right boards to wrist a backhander into the net for his ninth of the year. Evander Kane took a shot that went off Andersen’s pad and straight to teammate Matt Halischuk who tipped the puck in for his fifth. The Jets combined for 19 shots in the period taking so much time with the puck that Anaheim tallied four in 20 minutes.
The Jets came out flying in the second period during a rollover power play with Blake Wheeler making it 3-0 on a shot leaving plenty of room for him to score his team leading 27th. Anaheim’s first real attempt didn’t arrive until 2:11 in the period where former Jets captain Teemu Sellanne shot on goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, but was stopped dead in its tracks. Winnipeg responded midway into the period with a tip in from Eric Tangradi where his stick hit the drive from Zach Redmond to give him his third and Redmond’s first assist this year.
It was the first time that the Ducks had allowed five goals or more in a game since playing Colorado in October. This game would go differently, as they broke onto the board with Nick Bonino scoring his 20th on a backhander after getting his rebound back around the net to score. The Jets again outshot the Ducks 12-7, but with life from the Ducks a third period would need to be a miracle.
The Jets came out in the third period completely out of fuel to make it to the end, as they struggled in the first three minutes setting Anaheim with a chance to make a comeback. It began with Kyle Palmieri taking a shot that was saved by the glove of Pavelec, but gave the Ducks a power play on an interference call. Ryan Getzlaf answered on the man advantage receiving a pass through traffic from Patrick Maroon for his 31st on the year. Hampus Lindholm scored on Daniel Winnik’s rebounded shot giving him six this year and cutting the lead down to a pair.
Anaheim showed signs of vulnerability nine minutes in where the Jets countered attacking the Ducks net, but with no success. They came back in response with shots from Mathieu Perreault and the Ducks offence where an empty net opportunity was blocked as Pavelec came to the point to shut it down. He wouldn’t be happy with the remainder of the game as his team looked desperate for a big win when their playoff hopes were lost weeks ago. Corey Perry killed Winnipeg’s chances for a regulation victory as he took credit for Getzlaf’s shot from the far end where his stick hit the puck and tied the game with 23 seconds on the clock. It was Perry’s 39th of the season and the one that put hope back on the Ducks side.
Anaheim was 4-2 in overtime situations this year and just sixteen seconds in, they added another win to pull off the unthinkable. Robidas made the game come to a close when Andrew Cogliano brought the puck into the Jets zone finding Robidas open on the glove side of Pavelec to fire a wide open shot and send fans screaming in excitement. It was just his fifth of the season and first as a Duck since being traded to them seven games ago.
The comeback added two points to the Ducks record; they were one point off the lead for the Western Conference top spot. The team also set a franchise record with 49 wins, the most ever won in season history. Andersen added his 18th victory with 33 saves on the night as he stayed in letting the offense handle the situation in tremendous fashion. He won’t be so lucky when the time for playoffs arrives, but can breathe a sigh of relief on the night.
By Rudy Martinez
