By FIELD LEVEL MEDIA
The Winnipeg Jets would move into a first-place tie in the Central Division with a win over the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Friday night.
Winnipeg enters the contest with 87 points, two fewer than Colorado and Dallas, both of which are idle on Friday. The remaining schedule would seem to favor the Jets, who have two games in hand on the Avalanche and three on the Stars heading into the final month of the season.
It will be the final contest of a three-game homestand for the Jets, who skated to a 3-0 win over the Washington Capitals on Monday and then dropped a 4-2 decision to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday.
Winnipeg, which is just 2-3-0 over its last five games, fell behind 4-0 to the Predators before Alex Iafallo and Mason Appleton scored in the final seven minutes.
“They’re a good group,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of his squad. “They care a lot. They’re not happy when we don’t play well like we did (Wednesday) night. Regardless of the outcome, I expect a full response (Friday) night for sure.”
Winnipeg played without Mark Scheifele (team-leading 57 points), who had the flu. Bowness said he was hopeful his star center would play against the Ducks.
“He’s feeling better today,” Bowness said after an up-tempo practice on Thursday. “He was able to eat today and last night. That decision will be made (Friday) morning.”
Bowness said the Jets clearly missed Scheifele on Wednesday.
“That’s quite obvious, that he drives the bus up front,” Bowness said. “He makes the other players around him better. He’s been doing a great job at both ends of the ice. And when he’s not there, you definitely notice that.”
Winnipeg will depart on a five-game trip after playing Anaheim. The Ducks, who are seventh in the Pacific Division with just 49 points, have lost four in a row and will play the second game of a back-to-back set that began with a 2-0 loss at Minnesota on Thursday.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves for his 75th career shutout for the Wild, who outshot the Ducks 25-9 over the first two periods. Zach Bogosian scored on a long point shot in the first period, and Kirill Kaprizov tapped in a Ryan Hartman pass in the second period for Minnesota.
Anaheim has been outscored 21-5 during its four-game skid. The loss on Thursday wasted another strong goaltending performance by Lukas Dostal, who made 29 saves.
“Like always, he’s just so good back there,” Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “Whenever we need him, he shows up. He’s been great.”
Minnesota finished with 16 blocked shots, which Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said played a key role in his team’s offensive shortcomings.
“(Minnesota) blocked a lot of shots,” Cronin said. “They packed the inside third of the ice, and we couldn’t get them through. They were blocking them out at the blue line, they were blocking at the net, and they did a really good job of keeping us outside. I think we played well. We just weren’t good enough tonight.”
Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas left the game late in the first period after getting checking into the boards by Ryan Johansen and did not return.
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