Lowry, Jets gain in Central Division with win against Ducks

ANAHEIM --Adam Lowry had a goal and an assist for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Thursday.

Lowry broke a tie at 10:47 of the third period when he scored on redirection from in front of the crease to make it 3-2.
"For it to come in a win, and a couple important points for us, it's awesome," Lowry said. "For us to find that consistency, I thought we played another really good game, so pretty happy about it."
Mason Appleton and Kyle Connor scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves for the Jets (41-29-3), who have won three of their past four games and moved within three points of the Colorado Avalanche for third place in the Central Division.
"It's something to build on," Connor said. "We have nine games left now, and we want to continue to move forward improving and hit the playoffs with a running stride here."
Cam Fowler and Frank Vatrano scored, and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for the Ducks (23-39-10), who are 1-4-1 on their eight-game homestand.
"We obviously don't have the playoff race in our minds, but anytime we can create those sorts of situations and be in tight games, I think it's a good thing for us," Anaheim defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said.

Fowler gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 11:41 of the first period when he took a wrist shot from the right point that went off Connor and Jets forward Mark Scheifele before going past Hellebuyck.
The goal gave Fowler an NHL career-high 43 points (10 goals, 33 assists) this season.
"I'm super proud of him," Eakins said. "I hope he's proud of himself to have a career year in a year like this."
Appleton tied it 1-1 just 45 seconds later at 12:26. Lowry brought the puck down the left side into the offensive zone before centering a pass to Dylan DeMelo, who redirected it toward Dostal. The puck slipped between Dostal's pads, and Appleton pushed the puck across the goal line.
Winnipeg outshot Anaheim 16-6 in the first period.
"Obviously, the first goal is one that I'd like to take back, but overall I felt we had a good pace the whole game," Dostal said. "It was another experience under my belt. I just wish we could win."
Connor gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 13:45 of the second period on a 2-on-1 with Pierre-Luc Dubois, scoring on a rebound of Dubois' shot from the right face-off circle.
"Finally, we had a 2-on-1 that we shot the puck," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "We've had too many 2-on-1s lately that we haven't even shot the puck and haven't gotten a scoring opportunity, so it's great to see us finally put that in."
It was also Connor's first goal since Feb. 28 (12 games).
"He's had so many chances lately," Bowness said. "You just know it was a matter of time before the puck is going to go in for him."

Vatrano tied it 2-2 on a power play at 5:40 of the third with a one-timer from just inside the blue line.
"We're a resilient type, no matter what we face," Connor said. "We have the confidence in here, in each other, that we'll get out of it, it's going to make us stronger. Especially coming down to the playoffs, you're not going to win every game, so you've got to deal with those situations when they happen."
Dostal, who made his third start this month, made a save on Connor's breakaway at 7:50 of the first, and used his right pad to kick aside a backhand from in close by Morgan Barron at 10:02.
"He's just dipping his toe in the water here," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said of Dostal. "It's important that we really try to get him as many reps as we can, and that's what we're going to try to do down the stretch here."
NOTES: Winnipeg has won five in a row and is 13-2-1 in its past 16 games against Anaheim. ... The Jets went 0-for-2 on the power play and are 0-for-21 in their past six games, the first time they have gone six consecutive games without a power-play goal since Oct. 28-Nov. 6, 2016.