WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said he welcomed the first opportunity to see how his young team would respond following a loss, and he had to like what he saw.
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Rookie Judd Caulfield scored his first NHL goal and added an assist as the Ducks defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 5-1, on Friday night, bouncing back from a frustrating home loss to the Edmonton Oilers two nights earlier.
Tim Washe and Mikael Granlund each had a goal and an assist, while Sam Colangelo and Nikita Nesterenko (empty net) also scored and Jeff Malott and Beckett Sennecke contributed two assists apiece for the Ducks, who handed the Jets their first regulation loss of the season.
Lukas Dostal stopped 15 shots for the Ducks (3-1-0), allowing only Kyle Conner’s third-period goal.
The Ducks had opened the season with impressive wins against the more experienced Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers, then looked like the better team through the 20 minutes against Edmonton, but the Oilers scored 11 seconds into the second period, opening the floodgates for four more goals in the frame on their way to handing the Ducks a 5-2 defeat.
The Ducks were stingy in protecting their lead Friday. After the Jets trimmed their deficit to 3-1 midway through the third period, Granlund sunk Winnipeg’s hopes with a goal with 5:54 remaining.
The Ducks kept their streak alive of scoring first in every game this season when Caulfield gave them a 1-0 lead at 14:41 of the first period. Malott drove to the net and Winnipeg goaltender Clay Stevenson saved his backhand from in close, but Caulfield slid the rebound between his pads for his first NHL goal in his fourth game.
The fourth line struck again in the second period when Washe finished off a feed from Malott on a 2-on-1 to make it 2-0 at 5:20. The assist gave Malott his first multipoint game in the NHL. Caulfield also had an assist on the play.
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The Ducks stretched their lead to 3-0 at 4:25 of the third. Sennecke drove toward the left post and then backhanded a short feed to Colangelo in front of the crease and he tapped the puck in the net.
Sennecke has three goals and three assists through the first four games of his second season in the NHL.
The Ducks missed out on their first shutout since their 2024-25 season opener on Oct. 12, 2024, a 2-0 win against the San Jose Sharks, when Connor got behind the defense and scored from in close to cut it to 3-1 at 10:36 of the third.
Granlund got the goal back at 14:06 when he hit the net with a slap shot from above the left circle to make it 4-1. Nesterenko scored into an empty net with 41 seconds left to make it 5-1.
Stevenson made 12 saves in his seventh NHL start for the Jets (3-1-1), who had won three in a row following a season-opening overtime loss to the Boston Bruins.
The Ducks took advantage of almost every dangerous opportunity they had in the comprehensive win, beating Winnipeg defenders to the puck to score their first two goals and finding themselves alone in front on two others. They also killed all four Jets power plays.
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UP NEXT
The Ducks play at Calgary on Saturday at 7 p.m.
More to come on this story.