The Winnipeg Jets flushed a disappointing loss to Nashville by throttling a battered Anaheim Ducks squad 6-0 Friday night in front of a raucous sellout crowd.
The Jets struck for four goals in the final frame and their power play was a perfect 3-for-3 as the Jets moved into a three-way tie for the division lead with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.
“We managed the puck so much better tonight,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “Going through the neutral zone we made the right decisions at their blueline. If they were gapped up, then we put it behind them and went to work.”
The Jets swept the season series against the Ducks for the second straight season and haven’t lost to Anaheim since October 2021.
Tyler Toffoli scored his first two goals with the Jets and could have had three or four after a chance-filled third period.
“It was just one of those games,” Toffoli said. “I thought we played really well. It was a matter of time before we started kinda piling some on.”
“He’s a goal scorer,” said Bowness. “If we give him the puck at the right spots, he’s going to put it on the net and it’s going to go in the net.”
Kyle Connor, Mason Appleton, Nate Schmidt and Dylan DeMelo also scored in the win. Josh Morrissey had a three-point night and Nikolaj Ehlers registered two assists.
The Jets recorded their third shutout in their last five games. Laurent Brossoit has back-to-back shutouts and is enjoying a more than 150-minute shutout streak.
“Everything I’d say is feeling pretty good,” he said. “And obviously the two in front of me. I’m gonna try not to get too high on these cause the opponents that I was playing in those two. I have to be honest with myself and make sure that I’m not getting too casual.”
The Jets made four different lineup changes after a tough outing against the Predators. Mark Scheifele returned from a one-game absence with an illness, while Schmidt, Logan Stanley, and David Gustafsson also went back in. Colin Miller, Dylan Samberg, Rasmus Kupari, and Cole Perfetti were all scratched.
The Jets dominated the start of the game, outshooting the Ducks 8-1 over the first seven minutes before Anaheim earned the first power play of the night.
Frank Vatrano rang a shot off the crossbar but otherwise the Jets did a good job killing it off, leading to the opening goal from Winnipeg.
A point shot from DeMelo was going wide but Connor used the blade of his stick to redirect it through John Gibson to open the scoring at the 16:20 mark.
Anaheim got their second power play of the game late in the period while the teams were at 4-on-4, but the Jets got to the end of the period unscathed.
Winnipeg outshot the Ducks 11-6 in the opening 20 minutes and continued to pour on the pressure in the second, playing keep-away with the puck before earning their first power play just over six minutes into the second.
Late in the man advantage, Schmidt sent a shot toward the net that glanced off the skate of one Duck defender and into the shin pads of another Duck, sending the puck into an open net as Gibson could only watch helplessly. It was Schmidt’s second goal the year and first since Jan. 5, which was also against Anaheim.
The Ducks got a third chance with the power play a few minutes later but once again the Jets killed it off as they carried a 2-0 lead into the final frame.
They extended their lead while the teams were playing at 4-on-4. Just before Josh Morrissey and Ross Johnston were set to return to the ice, Ehlers sent the puck back to DeMelo at the point. He walked in and fired a slapshot that Gibson got a piece of but it trickled through him to make it 3-0 at the 4:59 mark.
Like Schmidt, it was DeMelo’s second goal of the season, but his first came way back on Oct. 14.
Just over three minutes later, Toffoli got in on the fun. Sean Monahan won the puck back to him off a faceoff and he sent a shot on goal that made its way through a screen and past Gibson for Toffoli’s first as a Jet, sending the crowd into an appreciative frenzy.
Toffoli must have liked that noise because a few minutes later on the power play, he redirected a hard pass from Scheifele through Gibson to make it 5-0.
Appleton scored a power play goal with 5.5 seconds left to put a bow on a dominant third period.
Brossoit had to make a few acrobatic saves in the second period but was otherwise lightly tested on the night, stopping just five shots in the third and 21 on the night. He now has a shutout streak of 150:40 dating back to Mar. 3 against Buffalo.
The Jets will now hit the road for five straight games starting Sunday in Columbus.