Ducks Beat Jets 5-1 Behind Fourth Line Scoring Surge

Anaheim ended its first losing streak threat of the young 2026-27 season with a 5-1 victory over Winnipeg at Canada Life Centre on Friday, October 9. The Ducks relied on efficient rush attacks, strong defensive coverage and an unexpected scoring contribution from their fourth line to hand the Jets their first regulation loss of the season.

Mikael Granlund, Tim Washe and Judd Caulfield each recorded a goal and an assist for Anaheim (3-1-0). Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko also scored, while Beckett Sennecke and Jeff Malott collected two assists apiece. Goaltender Lukas Dostal stopped 15 of 16 shots, and Anaheim scored three times in the third period.

Winnipeg (3-1-1), which had won three consecutive games, received its lone goal from Kyle Connor. Clay Stevenson made 12 saves on 16 shots. The Ducks' victory followed a loss to Edmonton on Wednesday, while Winnipeg entered the matchup unbeaten in regulation.

Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville credited his team's consistency against a fast-moving opponent after the game.

"They're fast. They’re a fast hockey team there," Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said of the Jets. "We were concerned going into this game and I was happy the way we played.

So that was, from our end of it, we had to do what we had to do. And they had some moments in the first where they could have scored and it could have been a different look. But I like the consistency of our game."

The coach also praised Washe, Caulfield and Malott, whose combined six points made the fourth line a decisive factor. All three recorded their first multipoint games in the NHL, according to the game notes.

"(Our fourth line) had a special night," Quenneville said of Washe, Caulfield, and Malott, who combined for six points. "They scored a couple off the rush, almost had a third one off the rush, had a couple shifts in the third with good possession and cycle time. We couldn't ask for anything more. That was a special night for those guys."

Caulfield opened the scoring at 14:41 of the first period, converting the rebound of Malott's shot after a partial breakaway. The goal was Caulfield's first in the NHL and came during his fourth career game, with family members traveling from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to watch.

"It feels great to get that first one," Caulfield said. "It was a great play by Washe to get that puck out of the zone and (Malott) had great speed taking the puck to the net and left it easy for me to score right in front of the net. So, it felt great."

Caulfield described the occasion as especially meaningful because relatives had made the trip to Winnipeg to attend the game.

"It was super special with the family here," Caulfield said. "It was as close as we’re going to get and it was (good) to have a nice little lineup on the schedule to have a Friday night game. It was super special to have them in the stands.

I don’t think my grandma’s been to a game in a while, and it was nice to have my parents and my wife’s family here as well, and my siblings. It was great to have that support. They have supported me for so many years."

Washe doubled the lead at 5:20 of the second period by finishing a two-on-one rush after Caulfield carried the puck through the neutral zone and connected with Malott. Colangelo made it 3-0 at 4:25 of the third, finishing Beckett Sennecke's backhand pass near the crease.

Dostal said Anaheim's defensive execution limited Winnipeg's opportunities in a game featuring relatively few shots.

"I feel like both teams, they were playing really good in the neutral zone, and it was a little bit of a little battle up and down, so not so many shots," Dostal said. "It was kind of our game plan to be on top of them and having good sticks. I think the guys did a tremendous job defensively, and I’m just overall amazed."

Connor cut the deficit to 3-1 at 10:36 of the third period, scoring his sixth goal of the season on a breakaway. The goal was the 329th of his career and came in his 700th NHL game, moving him past Ilya Kovalchuk into sole possession of third place on the Jets and Atlanta Thrashers' all-time scoring list.

Connor acknowledged that Anaheim's speed created problems during transitions and said Winnipeg failed to capitalize on opportunities with the man advantage.

"I thought we were playing very quick," Connor said. "We knew they were a transition team and we had to just be aware of that. They had good speed and we gave up a couple chances there, and they ended up in the back of our net.

Our power play could have been a lot better. We had a lot of chances there in the second to change momentum, and unfortunately we weren't able to get one."

Granlund restored Anaheim's three-goal cushion at 14:06 with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. Nesterenko completed the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:19.

Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel pointed to Anaheim's speed and the demands of the schedule as contributing factors in the defeat. The Jets were playing their fifth game in eight nights and were without defenseman Josh Morrissey, who was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury in the preview published by The Hockey News.

"They turn and come at you pretty quick," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "We had been doing a pretty good job against the (Leo) Carlsson and Granlund line. It was the fourth line that scored those.

We really tried to keep those guys in check. They have a really good skating team and we knew that. Of all the teams I wanted to face in the fifth game in eight nights, it was probably not that team.

They’re big and they can move."

Arniel said Winnipeg's execution declined in the second period, when the team struggled to maintain its earlier approach around the goal line.

"We weren’t getting inside," Arniel said. "I thought we did a really good job of getting pucks to the goal line and then going from there. In the second period, we didn’t do that quite as well.

So, just some mental things that happened. Obviously, some physical things as well. Not an excuse, everybody does it, but the five (games) in eight (days), there were some things there mentally that you could see kind of caught up for us."

Sennecke extended his season-opening point streak to four games, totaling six points through that span on three goals and three assists. At 20 years and 254 days, he became the youngest forward to record a point streak of at least four games at the start of a season since Elias Pettersson recorded a five-game streak in 2018-19 at age 19. Anaheim was scheduled to travel to Calgary to face the Flames on Saturday at 7 p.m. Pacific time.