Jets Earn Valuable Points in 3-2 Victory Over Ducks

Kyle Connor has remembered how to score. And all it took was a new look. Opting to shave his cheeks and go with the moustache in an attempt to shake his 11-game goal-scoring drought, the 26-year-old found the back of the net for the first time in what seemed like forever on Thursday night in Anaheim, as the Jets held on for a 3-2 win in the first stop of a three-game Pacific Division road trip. With every point proving its value in a tight race for the final Wild Card spot, the Jets also saw goals from Mason Appleton and Adam Lowry - who scored for the second-straight game, while collecting career point No. 200 on the night. https://twitter.com/TheHockeyNewsWJ/status/1639128970053419009 Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 18 pucks for his 32nd win of the season, while seeing his team earn a very important two points on the night. Now sitting at 41-29-3, the Jets are just one point back of Seattle for the first Wild Card spot, but have played two more games than the league's newest team. Also playing on the night, Seattle earned one point, falling in a shootout to Nashville, which continues to gain ground on Winnipeg. Still sitting five points back of the Jets thanks to their win over the Kraken, the Predators do have three games in hand on Winnipeg. Calgary, which also played on Thursday, fell 3-2 to Vegas, and falling six points back of the Jets. Anaheim's Cam Fowler actually opened the scoring for the Ducks, as a long-range floater beat Hellebuyck, but Appleton tied the game up shortly thereafter, tapping home a loose puck following a Dylan DeMelo rush up-ice. The second period saw Connor find his 28th of the season, and it came in similar fashion to that of Appleton's marker. Crashing the net on a Pierre-Luc Dubois rush, Connor tapped the loose puck home, putting Winnipeg ahead for the first time. Much like that of Winnipeg's early response, Anaheim struck back, with Frankie Vatrano potting his 18th of the season on a third period power play, with Kyle Capobianco looking on from the penalty box. The goal clearly frustrated a number of Jets' veterans, with one player in particular stepping up, once again. For the second-straight game it was Lowry who scored when his team needed one the most. On what was a strong night from the line of Vladislav Namestnikov, Appleton and Lowry, the latter redirected a Brenden Dillon shot-pass through Lukas Dostal for the winner with less than half a period to play. The goal was Lowry's 11th of the season and second point of the game, which helped him move to 200 career points overall. It also was the second-straight game to which he scored the winning goal for the Jets. Winnipeg's power play struggles continued on Thursday, however, as the team failed to score on either of its two man advantages, meaning the Jets are 0/21 over the past six games. Hellebuyck played fine, only facing 20 shots on the night. He made 18 stops. Dostal made 29 stops, as Winnipeg put 32 pucks on net in the winning effort. Next up is a test with the playoff-bound Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.Com Arena on Saturday afternoon. The game gets underway at 3:00 PM central time, and can be viewed live on TSN.