Unfortunately Winnipeg fans will have to wait at least another season for their first playoff victory—the last playoff game a Jets team won in Winnipeg came almost exactly 19 years ago on April 21, 1996. No matter what the Jets threw at Anaheim in this series, the Ducks had a response in what was one of the more closely contested 4-0 series sweeps in recent memory.
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Key stat
Winnipeg became the first ever team in NHL history to carry the lead into the third period of three consecutive games, only to lose all three. Anaheim continued its unbelievable run of one-goal game success, winning games two and three by that slimmest of margins. Shockingly the Ducks only held the lead for 11:31 of the first three games of the series, yet came away with a 3-0 advantage entering game four.
What happened
The Jets pushed their way into the playoffs by limiting opportunities against, but struggled to bottle up the Ducks’ attack. During the regular season, Winnipeg finished with the fourth-best shot suppression in the NHL—allowing just 47.8 score-adjusted shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5v5, 36.1 of which were unblocked. Against a Ducks team they struggled with all season, those counts ballooned to 55.5 attempts allowed, 44.1 of which went unblocked—the third-worst rate in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That largely stemmed from the Jets’ inability to handle the Ducks forecheck and cycle with consistency—though in the final game much of the damage came off goals scored on the rush.
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In the playoffs teams often go as far as their best players carry them. Anaheim got production from key players while the Jets top contributors struggled. Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Kesler and Corey Perry in particular provided offensive push for Anaheim throughout the series, combining for eight goals and 17 points.
For the Jets, Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler couldn’t contribute enough offensively and Dustin Byfuglien in particular seemed lost at times in his defensive-zone coverage. While his physical play was consistent and included some thundering checks, he also had significant lapses in his decision making. Winnipeg’s three leaders combined to contribute one goal and three points in the series.
The Jets can build off their successes of this season and know they have some serious skill coming down the pipeline in the likes of Josh Morrissey, Joel Armia, Nic Petan and Nikolaj Ehlers. Their biggest takeaway should be that adding more high-end skill throughout the lineup will allow them to compete on a more level playing field with the top teams in the league offensively as they keep working on playing lock down defence.
What the Ducks must do now
If the Ducks hope to continue beyond the second round, they’ll have to press their size advantages over whichever of Vancouver or Calgary comes out of the other Pacific Division series. The physical nature of Anaheim’s forecheck and cycle game allows them to wear teams down and should have them in good shape next round. It’ll also help if they can avoid any drop off in the one-goal game department—lucky or not, it’s been their calling card all season.