Ducks’ third period piece de resistance
They again rise to the late-game occasion, scoring twice to beat Jets for 2-0 series lead.
Just when it seemed as though it would be one of those vintage Ondrej Pavelec nights, unsolvable and unbeatable, the Ducks managed to solve the Jets goalie in the third period.
With the help of the power play, and an impressive effort by gifted forward Jakob Silfverberg in the final minute, the Ducks put together a late rally for the second straight game and defeated Winnipeg, 2-1, on Saturday night at Honda Center.
It was Silfverberg who scored the game-winner with 21 seconds remaining in regulation, beating Pavelec on the stick side under his arm.
The goal put the Ducks in command, two games to none, in the best-of-sevengame series. Game 3 is Monday at Winnipeg.
“He’s got such quick re-
leases . . . that when he gets it off it’s hard to pick up,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said of Silfverberg. “This one, I quickly watched it when I went into the room and I still don’t know how it went in.
“He played a great game, killed a lot of penalties and was rewarded with the goal, so good for him.”
Good, too, for the Ducks, who’ve built a series lead on the strength of their thirdperiod finishes.
In Game 1, they scored three times in the third to win it, and they scored twice in the third period Saturday night to beat the Jets again.
“It’s something we’ve been doing throughout the whole year. We’ve been very strong in the third period,” Silfverberg said. “I don’t think we can do it too often. But obviously we did it tonight.
“It’s a great feeling getting that goal . . . it’s obviously huge and I’m very happy with it.”
Said Boudreau: “I don’t think our team quits. Neither does theirs, but that’s why you can score goals, because we didn’t quit. Both games have been extremely even, right down to the wire.”
In both games, the Jets had the run of play in the second period. They led 1-0 after two periods Saturday.
Winnipeg has come undone with a lack of discipline at critical junctures.
The Ducks’ comeback Saturday started when Jets captain Andrew Ladd went off for high-sticking at 9:45, and Anaheim converted on the power play when defenseman Cam Fowler’s shot changed direction, hitting the Jets’ Blake Wheeler and then going in off the Ducks’ Patrick Maroon in front for the tying goal.
An early theme of the series has been the Jets’ inability to stay out of the penalty box. The Ducks scored twice with the man advantage in Game 1 and added the Maroon goal in Game 2. They are three for seven on the power play in the two games.The Ducks have been at both ends of the rewind-and-review spectrum in the first two games of this series. They benefited in Game 1 when the video review determined that Corey Perry’s rebound goal, which ended up as the game-winner, had completely crossed the line.
Saturday was a bit different — no replay review this time, just the officials huddling on the ice to determine whether the Jets had scored.
This confab happened after much-traveled Jets winger Lee Stempniak traveled right into the Ducks net behind goalie Frederik Andersen. With plenty of help, too, from the Ducks’ Ryan Kesler.
As Stempniak tried to get out, Winnipeg defenseman Adam Pardy scored on a nifty wraparound after a toe drag on the left wing, at 15:43 of the second period.
That would be his first playoff goal and his first goal since the 2010-11 season, back when he was with the Calgary Flames. In other words, a long time ago.
The goal stood because of Rule 69.1 — if the attacking player was pushed in, the goal counts.
The Ducks lost a player to injury and so did the Jets. Anaheim’s Chris Wagner, who made an impressive showing in his first-ever playoff appearance in Game 1, suffered an upper-body injury in the opening period Saturday. He was limited to five shifts and a mere 1 minute 50 seconds of action.
The Jets lost center Mathieu Perreault early in the third when it looked like he injured his shoulder, getting shoved into the post by the Ducks’ Rickard Rakell. This had been the first game of the series for Perreault, a former Duck, who was injured in the second-to-last game of the season.
Perreault, who had the primary assist on Pardy’s goal, left the ice and immediately went to the Jets’ dressing room.