Lowry's 200th career point helps push Jets past Ducks

Adam Lowry's 200th career point came at the perfect time for the Winnipeg Jets.
With their game against the Anaheim Ducks tied 2-2 in the third, Lowry parked himself in front of the Anaheim net and freed up his backhand as a target for Brenden Dillon. The Jets defenceman pinched down from the line and skated into the left circle, saw the stick blade, and put it right where it needed to be.
Lowry chipped it home for a 3-2 lead the Jets (41-29-3) wouldn't give up. With the assist he had earlier in the game, the 29-year-old forward hit 200 points on the eventual game-winner.
"For it to come in a way and in a couple of important points for us, it's awesome," said Lowry. "For us to find that consistency, I thought we played another really good game. I'm pretty happy about it."

Mason Appleton, a constant on Lowry's right wing, also scored in the game for the Jets. As did Kyle Connor, who notched his first goal in 12 games.
"I thought it was just a matter of time," said Connor, whose feeling of relief was evident on his face as he celebrated the goal. "It felt great to contribute there and get one."
As much as Connor needed the goal, the Jets needed the win just as much. With Nashville having won against Seattle earlier in the night, and the Calgary Flames losing in regulation, Winnipeg needed to take advantage of playing a team outside the playoff race.

It was evident that they got the message.
"I thought that was one of our most complete games in a while, a really good 60 minutes," said head coach Rick Bowness. "All four lines were contributing. Great to see that third line chip in a couple of goals. Good for Adam and the defence were good at moving the puck. We're very happy with the way we played."
With the Jets controlling play halfway through the first, Cam Fowler opened the scoring for Anaheim on a floater from the blue line. His shot found a way through a maze of bodies in front of Connor Hellebuyck with 8:19 remaining in the opening period, and was Fowler's 10th goal of the season.
The Jets responded 45 seconds later on a couple off great efforts. First, Dylan DeMelo jumped up the ice to join a rush with Lowry and Appleton. DeMelo dished off to his left to Lowry, then went right to the net for Lowry's return feed. DeMelo immediately put a backhand on goal, and the puck squeezed through Lukas Dostal, and Appleton jumped all over the rebound for his third of the season.
All night, Lowry's line was a handful for Anaheim. With that trio - along with Vladislav Namestnikov - on the ice, the shot attempts at five-on-five were 13-2 in favour of the Jets, the high-danger chances were 4-0 (according to Natural Stat Trick), and Winnipeg outscored the Ducks 2-0.
It was an incredible performance.
"(Mason Appleton) and (Vladislve Namestnikov) were so good on the forecheck," said Lowry. "Appie used his speed and Vladdy his smarts and that's kind of where we were able to generate our chances, generate some of our zone time."

The visitors kept the pressure up in the second, and it paid off.
Connor, who hadn't scored in 11 games coming into the night, found himself on a two-on-one with Pierre-Luc Dubois with just over six minutes left in the middle frame. Dubois' shot from Dostal's left was stopped, and Connor smacked home the loose puck for his 28th goal in the season. Connor had been stopped on a breakaway earlier in the game, and the goal came on his fourth shot of the game.
"I'm just working hard to do my job," said Connor. "I thought I was reading off of Dubie pretty well all night. Nino was great all night, too. We had a lot of zone time that I think we can take a look at and see if we can create a little more offence off of that but, with that being said, it's something to build on."
A Kyle Capobianco slashing call in the third put the Jets on their second penalty kill of the night, and the Ducks used that opportunity to get back on even footing. Frank Vatrano's one-timer from the point got through Hellebuyck with 5:40 off the clock in the third, and was the first goal the Jets penalty kill had given up in six games.

"No matter what we face, we have the confidence in here and in each other that we'll get out of it and it's going to make us stronger," said Connor. "We didn't waiver. We were confident in this group."
That set the stage for Lowry's response, which came 5:07 later. It was the by-product of a shift representing everything the Jets want to be - heavy forechecking, physical, and hard to play against. Then, when Anaheim couldn't clear, the Jets pounced.
It's the third straight road trip - during a road-heavy March - that the Jets opened with a win. With their hold on the Western Conference wildcard spot sitting at five points over Nashville and six over Calgary, they want to keep the wins coming.
"We can only control how we play, we can't control the other teams chasing us and the teams we're chasing," said Lowry. "We look at every game as an important one and that was no different tonight. I think we're going to try to carry this momentum to our game Saturday.