Photo: John Woods Winnipeg Free Press
By Tasha Florentz-Clift
The MTS center in Winnipeg would be rocking tonight for the Jets first home playoff game in 19 years. The fans would be dressed in white with a smattering of blue as they held a “White Out”. It was a sight to see, no doubt about that. A stunning and magnificent display of pride for their city and their team. Both of the national anthems were terrific and sung with grace and heart. The Mighty Comeback Kids won both game 1 and 2 of the series in Anaheim with their usual style. The Ducks seem to adapt and evolve in front of your eyes both games. Always seeming to save the best for last. Jakob Silfverberg was the hero of game 2. Tonight is going to be another physical game, just like the others. Who would prevail as time would run out? Who would be the hero of game 3? Rickard Rakell would be the latest Duck to take up that mantle.
First Period
We all knew that Winnipeg was going to come out fast, strong and physical. The crowd was extremely loud and boisterous! The Jets wanted to put on a booming show for their fans. It seemed that as soon as the puck was dropped, Corey Perry gets high sticked. He loses a tooth(and pulls it out on the bench), but no penalty was called on the play. The referees thought it was Patrick Maroon’s stick that did the damage and not Winnipeg’s. Anaheim looked discombobulated and the Jets controlled most of the play throughout the period. The Ducks did have several great scoring chances. The fourth line of Tomas Fleischmann, Emerson Etem and Tim Jackman had a really great shift early in the period. Etem just could not lift the puck over Ondrej Pavelec‘s pads.The Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano line was also rocking. Jets would get on the board first as Lee Stempniak would score off of a Jacob Trouba rebound to put them up 1-0 halfway through the period. Anaheim looked sloppy, turned the puck over and had trouble clearing the puck out of their zone. The Ducks had 1 power play so far this period and just could not get the cycle going. It seemed that the Ducks were going to go into the period break down 1-0. Then Ryan Kesler and Adam Lowry start throwing punches. They both get 2 minute roughing minors. The Ducks are a +13 in 4 on 4 situations while the Jets are -6. After some hard work along the boards from Silfverberg and Cogliano, Cam Fowler scoops up the puck and shoots it past Pavelec with 5 second remaining in the 1st! We go into the break tied at 1 apiece!
Second Period
The Ducks came out energized and ready to play as the second period started. Within three minutes the Ducks would take their first lead of the night. Francois Beauchemin would shoot the puck towards the net, it would bounce off of a Jet right to Hampus Lindholm who found Corey Perry alone in front of the net. Right after Perry scores and the whistle blows, Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien hits Perry in the head. The Ducks would go on the power play as Byfuglien gets 2 minutes for roughing. Right when their power play was about to expire, Anaheim takes a Bench minor for “Too many men on the ice”. The Jets have been 0-8 on power plays vs the Ducks this series. Make that 1-9 as Tyler Myers gets his first NHL playoff goal. Game is tied at 2. Three minutes later the Jets would regain the lead as Blake Wheeler nets his first of the series. Jets up 3-2. But the Ducks just kept fighting and coming at the Jets. And all of that tenacity would pay off. Matt Beleskey would come off the bench and lay a monster of a hit on Adam Pardy. After that hit Pardy could barely get up, let alone handle his stick and skate. Which left Ducks center Ryan Kesler open. Kesler rifled the puck to Silfverberg across the crease who scored back door. Tie game again! This period was far from over. Less than 2 minutes later a terrible turnover from the Ducks leads to a Winnipeg goal. Bryan Little after being denied by Frederik Andersen several times this game. would score to give the Jets the 4-3 lead heading into the 3rd period. Both goalies made crazy, athletic saves this period. And both teams played with heart and grit.
Third period
This is the Ducks period. Will the Cardiac Kids do it again? Will they rise from the ashes like a Phoenix to triumph once again? The Jets started off the period dominating the Ducks. Then the tide turned. Anaheim started fighting back with all of their might. Seeds of doubt crept into the Jets minds. They started mishandling and turning over the puck. Recent memories of the Ducks come from behind victories were haunting them. The Kesler line was astounding this game. It took them almost the whole period to whittle the Jets down, but they did it. With less than 3 minutes left in regulation the Kesler line would prevail. Cogliano would once again win a battle along the boards, Silfverberg would collect the loose puck and find a wide open Ryan Kesler, across the crease who would score! The Cardiac Kids did it again. They tie it up in the dying minutes of the game! The game was not over yet and the Jets surged to try to score in the final minute of the period. Byfuglien would make a great play to keep the puck in the zone and get it to Little. Andersen would make a sprawling, super man save on Little to sent this game into overtime! Bonus hockey here we come.
Overtime
Here we are again Duck fans. Another one goal game, another overtime. It is second nature to us now, though no less nerve racking. I do not think any hockey fan was breathing during this overtime. Even the MTS center was quiet. The Jets made the first move and had several great scoring chances that Freddie stopped. This is the time that the Ducks shine. Anaheim went into “Quack Attack” mode. Yet again, it is Andrew Cogliano who plays a huge part in the play. He for the 3rd time tonight, wins a battle behind the net. Cogs then passes it to a wide open Beauchemin at the point. Beauch reels back and fires a shot towards the net. Rickard Rakell was in perfect position to tip it in for the OT winner!
The Mighty Comeback kids do it again for a 3rd time in a row(first team in NHL history)! The Kesler, Cogs, and Silfver line had a total of 8 points (Cogliano (0-3=3),Kesler (1-1=2).Silfverberg (1-2=3).The Ducks play the Jets in game 4 this Wednesday at 6:00 PST. With a win, the Ducks would advance to the second round of the playoffs, but the Jets will come out fighting even harder to prevent that from happening.
Quotes
Rickard Rakell-
On his overtime-winner
“We had a good forecheck going, and Cogs [Andrew Cogliano] made a good pass up to Beauch [Francois Beauchemin]. He made a great shot to find my blade. I just tried to deflect it on net. It felt good.”
On winning in this type of environment
“It was tough during the game, but the way we managed to come back three times now, the character of the guys in our room is really strong. We’re very confident and we never stop playing.”
On the ability to erase deficits
“We just believe in ourselves. We know we’re a good team, and know that if we play the game the right way, we shouldn’t lose.”
Ryan Kesler-
On his game-tying goal
“It was a great job and I just reaped the rewards. Cogs drove the net hard and Silfverberg found me backdoor. I had the whole net to shoot at. I was just the benefit of hard work by my linemates.”
On being booed throughout the game
“I love it. It energizes me. My dad told me you must be doing something right if people are all over you. It’s a tribute to what I do on the ice. It was a great win by the boys tonight. It was a hard-fought effort.”
On the ability to erase deficits
“We don’t stop believing in that room. It’s been that way all year. To do it in the playoffs, in three straight games, it’s pretty special. There’s something special growing in our locker room.”
On what he expects in Game 4
“It’s going to be the hardest fought game yet. The fourth one is the hardest [to win]. As heartbreaking as that was for them to lose in overtime, both teams are going to regroup and forget about that one, and play hard in the fourth one.”
On the victory
“It’s not an easy building to play in, but we controlled our emotions pretty well. We were running around a little too much in the second, but other than that I thought we were really good at slowing the game down. We kept our composure and got some huge goals.”
On the atmosphere
“We played here during the season, but everything was a little bit louder today. It was really fun to play in, and a really special environment.”
Head Coach Bruce Boudreau–
On crowd noise
“It certainly was loud, and certainly gave them energy. We handled it just enough to survive. Once you get into the game, sometimes you don’t hear a lot of that. In the beginning, it was incredible.”
On the ability to erase deficits
“After it’s happened quite a bit, I know I get redundant in what I’m saying. You just never think it’s going to end.”
On depth scoring
“We needed it tonight. You get a third-line guy scoring the winning goal, and Silfverberg, Cogliano and Kesler get into it. I didn’t think the Getzlaf line was as good as they were in the first two games. If you don’t get that secondary scoring, you’re not going to win any games.”
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