The Jets will honor Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen before the game, inducting both into the club's hall of fame. Selanne scored 306 points in his first 231 NHL games with Winnipeg before a 1996 trade to Anaheim.
Anaheim hits the road fresh off a thrilling comeback win over Detroit at Honda Center. The Red Wings held a 2-1 lead in the final minute of regulation, but John Klingberg scored his first goal as a Duck to level the score and Ryan Strome tucked home the game-winner late in overtime.
"It's tough to always keep drawing from the positives in losses, obviously, and I thought from the beginning of the game we had a winning mindset," Strome said. "I thought the guys in the dressing room were unbelievable in between periods. We thought we were the better team, we brought a full 60-minute effort, and we got rewarded. I think it's not always gonna be pretty in this league, and I think that you could argue that our play has been better at times than our record might show, but at the end of the day you've gotta find ways to win, and I think that's what we did [Tuesday]."
The Ducks felt the game was another step in the direction in terms of their even-strength play, following up on a strong performance in Saturday's setback against Chicago.
"We have been able to sustain some [offensive] zone time," head coach Dallas Eakins said. "If you're sustaining [offensive] zone time, you're not in your [defensive] zione. Our forecheck is getting better. It's baby steps. It will never be how we want it to be. That's just how it goes. You're never satisfied. You're always trying to move the goalposts back, but for our group the last couple of games, this is the consistency that we need in our play."
Anaheim now sits 5-10-1 (11 points, .344) on the season, eighth in the Pacific Division. The Ducks will look for a better road performance this time around, currently just 2-6-1 away from home ice.
The Ducks visit a Jets team opening a three-game homestand and currently leading the Central Division by point percentage (.679). Winnipeg has had three days off since finishing a weekend back-to-back with an overtime win over Seattle.
"It was nice to get a good bounce and get a reward," winger Blake Wheeler said. "I thought our team played really well, and it would have been a shame to leave here without getting anything. So to push to overtime was a good accomplishment for us."
Following tonight's game, the Ducks will return to Winnipeg in a couple of weeks, with a rematch scheduled for Dec. 4.
