WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Ryan Getzlaf has seen the future. And it’s on the power play.
Getzlaf scored a man-advantage goal in the third period, Jonathan Bernier stopped 31 shots and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Monday night.
“Special teams is one of the biggest things in our league now. It’s the way the game is headed,” Getzlaf said. “You’ve got to be sharp in those areas.”
The game was physical and chippy, with the teams combining for seven power plays and over 30 minutes in penalties. Getzlaf believes that scoring on the power play boils down to hard work.
“Those are things we have to get done as a power play. We won the battle on the wall, I just got in behind them and got a tip on it,” Getzlaf said.
Logan Shaw and Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim. Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal each for Winnipeg.
Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec had 24 saves and got his first loss since being recalled from the AHL a week ago.
The Jets only lead came early when Copp opened the scoring 2:14 into the first period. Copp’s sixth goal of the season came as the second-year pro was sprung alone at the top of the circle on a feed from Mark Scheifele that Copp wristed stick side past Bernier.
“It was good for the confidence,” said Copp, promoted to the Jets top line alongside Ehlers and Scheifele after injuries to Patrik Laine and Drew Stafford. “It’s nice to start the game the right way, I guess, for me. Like anybody else, you score one early you feel like you’ve got good jump and ready to go. I thought I just built from there.”
Shaw tied it less than two minutes later, quickly burying Cam Fowler’s rebound on the rush for his second of the season.
Rakell’s goal came just 1:25 after Shaw’s equalizer, as Rakell beat Pavelec between his shoulder and the post on a sharp angle. Rakell’s fourth goal in his last seven games puts his season total at 20.
The Ducks added to their lead at 8:48 of the third when Getzlaf tipped Shea Theodore’s shot in the slot to make it 3-1 Anaheim.
With Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry and Anaheim’s Antoine Vermette both off with coincidental minors and the two clubs playing 4-on-4, Ehlers raced into the Anaheim zone and scored his 17th of the season on an impressive near-breakaway and diving effort.
NOTES: The Jets improving power play, entering the night ranked 15th (18.5 percent) in the NHL, went 0 for 5 against a Ducks penalty kill unit ranked 10th (82.7 percent) in the league. The Ducks eighth-ranked power play (21.6 percent) went 1 for 2 against Winnipeg’s struggling 26th-ranked penalty kill (77.4 percent).
UP NEXT
Ducks: Return home for two games, starting with Edmonton on Wednesday night.
Jets: Complete a four game homestand Tuesday night against San Jose.
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