The Winnipeg Jets, coming off a win against the San Jose Sharks the night before, faced the Anaheim Ducks in hopes of securing their first back-to-back win of the season.

As many had anticipated, the Jets started the game slow, no surprise given, since they had played in San Jose the night before. Anaheim quickly capitalized on the Jets’ sluggishness, outshooting them 10-0 in the first 10 minutes of the opening period and putting pressure on Eric Comrie. The Ducks’ dominance eventually led to the Jets heading to the penalty box. Vladislav Namestnikov was called for tripping, but fortunately for Winnipeg, they managed to kill off the penalty. In fact, they nearly intercepted a couple of Anaheim passes that could have turned into breakaways.

Finally, at 8:32, Cole Perfetti would challenge Lukas Dostal with the Jets first shot of the night.

Anaheim would head to the box giving Winnipeg their first power play of the evening at 3:18 as Perfetti would draw a hooking Penalty on Cutter Gauthier. The Jets’ would get some good looks on the power play, but the Ducks penalty kill would do a great job making sure nothing got to Dostal, getting 3 blocks while shorthanded.

The Jets were lucky to escape the first period with a 0-0 tie, despite being heavily outshot 12-4. Huge thanks to Eric Comrie, once again.

Much like the first period, the Jets came out slow, giving Anaheim time and space from the start and putting Winnipeg on their heels.

Right after Eric Comrie made a great save on Ryan Strome, the puck found its way to the blue line, where Ducks captain Radko Gudas wound up and hammered a shot toward the net. Frank Vatrano tipped it in to open the scoring for Anaheim. Vatrano picked up his 8th goal of the season, with Gudas getting his 4th assist, and Stromes 11th.

About halfway through the second period, Nino Niederreiter and Ross Johnson would get into a scrum, leading to a questionable roughing Penalty only against Johnson, surprisingly not to Niederreiter as well.

Fortunately for the Jets, it only took a few seconds into the power play to tie the game. Gabriel Vilardi pounced on a loose puck for his 14th goal of the season, with Ehlers earning his 17th assist and Connor his 22nd. The boos from the crowd were deafening, not only for the penalty call but also for the goal.

The Ducks got their second power play of the game at 7:36 when Rasmus Kupari was called for tripping Troy Terry. The Jets successfully killed off the penalty, allowing just one shot on goal.

But then, Logan Stanley took another penalty, stalling the momentum the Jets had started to build from the previous kill. He was called for interference on Mason McTavish, giving Anaheim their third power play of the game. No doubt about it, it was a clear penalty on Stanley, as McTavish was driving toward the net and Stanley prevented him from doing so.

Somehow, the Jets survived another shorthanded situation, getting out of the second period with the game tied 1-1. The Shots leaning in Anaheims favour, 22-8.

Kyle Connor put the team on his back, going coast-to-coast from behind his own net to the Ducks’ zone, where he set up Mark Scheifele for his 18th goal of the season, and Connor’s second assist of the game, for the go-ahead goal. It was pure skill and elite hockey sense from Connor, who used his speed to fly past the entire Ducks team and deliver a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Scheifele.

Mark Scheifele’s goal put the Ducks on their heels, and soon after, they took a penalty. Olen Zellweger caught Nikolaj Ehlers with a high stick, giving the Jets a power play. Although they didn’t capitalize on the man advantage, they continued to pressure Anaheim even after the penalty expired.

At the halfway mark of the third period, the Jets reached 20 shots on goal, while Anaheim had 28. It is crazy how much of a different team the Jets have been in the third period compared to the first and some parts of the second period.

The third period would get a bit chippy, as Ross Johnson would get involved in another scrum, this time with Jets captain Adam Lowry. The two would exchange words but then would return to their respectable sides.

The Ducks would tie the game 2-2 at 4:46, after Jackson LaCombed fired it from the blue line. Frank Vatrano would tip it in for his 2nd goal of the game and 9th of the season. LaCombe and Gudas would both collect their 5th assist of the campaign.

In the dying seconds of the third period, the Jets’ early-game sluggishness caught up to them. Neal Pionk was stripped of the puck in his own end by Frank Vatrano, who then set up Troy Terry to seal the game. Terry scored his 9th goal of the season, while Vatrano earned his 8th assist.

Simply put, this was a bad game for the Winnipeg Jets. They were slow for much of the contest, allowing Anaheim to take control. For most of the game, the Jets were playing catch-up, and although they briefly went ahead 2-1, their early sluggishness caught up with them. That lapse ultimately led to Anaheim scoring the game-winner with 26 seconds left, following a giveaway by Neal Pionk. It’s a game the Jets can learn from, but one they’d likely prefer to forget, especially against a bottom-tier team like the Ducks.

The Jets will now travel back to Winnipeg, where they get a few days off before facing the Minnesota Wild at home on Saturday, December 21st. Puck drop for that game is at 6:00 p.m. CT, and you can watch it on Sportsnet.