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 Goalie John Gibson earned his fourth successive victory and stopped
19 shots as the Ducks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 Sunday night in
front of 17,174 at the Honda Center.
Right winger Corey Perry scored his team-leading 14th goal, while
left winger Rickard Rakell added a goal and an assist for the Ducks
(16-15-7).
"We put a lot of emphasis on tonight," said center Ryan Kesler, who
scored one of Anaheim's goals. "We know this is going to set up the
rest of our homestand."
For Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf, the games following the Christmas
break represent the season's turning point, especially after Anaheim
lost nine of its first 10 contests.
"We had to come out of the break playing good hockey and doing good
things," said Getzlaf, who added that Sunday night's performance was
"pretty close" to the most complete game the Ducks played all
season.
The Jets (18-19-2) absorbed their 13th defeat in 15 road games.
"We wanted to come out with a better effort," Winnipeg left winger
Andrew Ladd said. "But we tried to slow the game down a little too
much, especially through the neutral zone, and you just can't do
that against them. They skated a lot better than we did, and we just
weren't good on pucks."
Rakell combined aggressive forechecking and disciplined
stick-handling to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead with his eighth goal at
5:51 of the first period.
Rakell stole the puck from Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot in the left
corner, evaded poke checks from Chiarot and defenseman Mark Stuart
while skating behind Winnipeg's net and converted a wrist shot from
the slot inside the left post against goalie Michael Hutchinson, who
made just his second start in 11 games.
"In the first period, I was just trying to force things a little too
much and make things happen instead of letting the game come to me,"
said Hutchinson, who finished with 31 saves. "As the game went on, I
got to relax more."
Nearly four minutes later, defenseman Kevin Bieksa scored his first
goal of the season on a power play. Bieksa one-timed a slap shot
from the left circle past Hutchinson at 9:04.
The Ducks retained their lead by killing two penalties within 4
minutes, 17 seconds, a span that lasted until early in the second
period. Perry then extended the margin to 3-0 with a slap shot from
the left circle on a three-on-two attack at 5:01 of the middle
period. Gibson earned his first NHL assist.
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About two minutes later, Winnipeg ended Gibson's streak of
consecutive shutout minutes. Defenseman Tyler Myers sent a pass from
the right boards toward right winger Blake Wheeler, who was rushing
toward the net. However, Anaheim left winger Carl Hagelin
inadvertently tipped the puck into the upper-right corner, and Myers
received credit for his fifth goal at 6:56.
Until Myers scored, Gibson had not conceded a goal in 184 minutes,
30 seconds. The streak was the third longest in team history.
The Ducks regained a three-goal lead at 18:41 of the second when
Kesler tapped right winger Chris Stewart's pass between Hutchinson's
legs on a power play.
NOTES: Sunday night's game was the first meeting between the teams
since the Ducks swept the Jets in the first round of last year's
Stanley Cup playoffs. ... Winnipeg scratched D Adam Pardy, D Paul
Postma and RW Anthony Peluso. ... The Jets activated C Mark
Scheifele from injured reserve and sent F Matt Halischuk to Manitoba
(AHL). Scheifele missed three games after suffering a concussion in
practice Dec. 26. ... Jets LW Andrew Ladd needs five goals to reach
200 for his career. ... Anaheim scratched D Clayton Stoner and LW
Jiri Sekac. ... Ducks D Cam Fowler will miss three-to-five weeks
because of a sprained right knee, the team announced. Fowler, who
suffered the injury Dec. 27 against the Philadelphia Flyers, was
leading the Ducks in playing time. ... Sunday night marked the first
of eight home games the Ducks will play through Jan. 20.
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