Ducks 4, Jets 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Goalie John Gibson earned his fourth successive victory and stopped 19 shots as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Sunday night in front of 17,174 at the Honda Center.
Right winger Corey Perry scored his team-leading 14th goal while left winger Rickard Rakell added a goal and an assist for the Ducks (16-15-7), who have won four of their past five. The Jets (18-19-2) suffered their 13th defeat in 15 road games.
Rakell combined aggressive forechecking and disciplined stick-handling to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead with his eighth goal at 5:51 of the first period.
Rakell stole the puck from Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot in the left corner, evaded poke checks from Chiarot and defenseman Mark Stuart while skating behind Winnipeg's net and converted a wrist shot from the slot inside the left post against goalie Michael Hutchinson, who made just his second start in the past 11 games.
Nearly four minutes later, defenseman Kevin Bieksa scored his first goal of the season on a power play. Bieksa one-timed a slap shot from the left circle past Hutchinson at 9:04.
The Ducks retained their lead by killing two penalties within 4 minutes, 17 seconds, a span that lasted until early in the second period. Perry then extended the margin to 3-0 with a slap shot from the left circle on a 3-on-2 attack at 5:01 of the period. Gibson earned his first NHL assist.
About two minutes later, Winnipeg ended Gibson's streak of consecutive shutout minutes. Defenseman Tyler Myers sent a pass from the right boards toward right winger Blake Wheeler, who was rushing toward the net. But Anaheim left winger Carl Hagelin inadvertently tipped the puck into the upper-right corner, and Myers received credit for his fifth goal at 6:57.
Until Myers scored, Gibson had not conceded a goal in 184 minutes, 30 seconds. That streak is the third longest in team history.
The Ducks regained a three-goal lead at 18:41, when center Ryan Kesler tapped right winger Chris Stewart's pass between Hutchinson's legs on a power play.
Hutchinson finished with 31 saves.
NOTES: Sunday night's game was the first meeting between the teams since the Ducks swept the Jets in the first round of last year's Stanley Cup playoffs. ... Winnipeg scratched D Adam Pardy, D Paul Postma and RW Anthony Peluso. ... The Jets activated C Mark Scheifele from injured reserve and sent F Matt Halischuk to Manitoba (AHL). Scheifele missed three games after suffering a concussion in practice Dec. 26. ... Jets LW Andrew Ladd entered the game needing five goals to reach 200 for his career. ... Anaheim scratched D Clayton Stoner and LW Jiri Sekac. ... Ducks D Cam Fowler will miss three-to-five weeks because of a sprained right knee, the team announced. Fowler, who suffered the injury Dec. 27 against the Philadelphia Flyers, was leading the Ducks in playing time. ... Sunday night marked the first game in the Ducks' longest homestand this season: eight games through Jan. 20.