The Winnipeg Jets were feeling optimistic as their first-round series shifted to the raucous MTS Centre, but now their confidence could be waning after another rally by the Anaheim Ducks.
The poised Ducks hope to again silence a deafening road crowd as they go after their first postseason sweep in nine years Wednesday night against the Jets, who seek the first playoff win in franchise history.
"The first one's going to be the hardest one, apparently," Winnipeg winger Blake Wheeler said. "You've got to make them win four games, so we're sure as hell not going to go down easy."
The Jets' wild "whiteout" atmosphere seemed to provide a lift in Monday's Game 3 as Lee Stempniak scored the first goal and Bryan Little gave the Jets a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
Winnipeg also had led 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes of a 4-2 loss at Anaheim in Game 1 and 1-0 going into the third of a 2-1 defeat in Game 2. The Ducks made another comeback Monday when Ryan Kesler scored with just over two minutes to play before Rickard Rakell provided the overtime winner.
Anaheim set a single-season record with 18 wins when trailing at any point in the third period. Now it has become the first team to win three straight playoff games when trailing in the third period.
They've outscored the Jets 7-0 in the third period and overtime in this series and 14-1 in the last 20 minutes of regulation and overtime during a seven-game winning streak against them.
"We don't stop believing in that room," Kesler said. "It has been like that all year. To do it in the playoffs in three straight games, it's pretty special."
After ranking among the league leaders with 13 third-period goals in the regular season, Corey Perry has scored two of his three goals in this series over the final 20 minutes.
Anaheim also has tightened up late defensively after allowing seven goals in the first two periods in the series. Frederik Andersen has gone 6-0-0 with a 2.43 goals-against average in his last six starts versus Winnipeg while allowing only one third-period score over that span.
The Ducks, who have reached the second round only twice in the past eight years, will now try for their first playoff sweep since beating Colorado in the 2006 Western Conference semifinals.
"The way we managed to come back, what three times now? It shows the character of some of the guys on our team is really strong," Rakell said. "We're very confident, and we never stop playing until they signal goals."
The Jets hope to find a way to extend their first postseason series in Winnipeg since 1996 as they go after the franchise's first playoff win. They're 0-7 all-time in the postseason dating to their time as the Atlanta Thrashers.
Only four times in league history has a team come back to win when facing a 3-0 deficit, though the Los Angeles Kings did it last year against San Jose en route to winning the Stanley Cup.
"We've got a mountain to climb, and we're looking forward to the challenge," Little said.
Andrew Ladd, who led Winnipeg with 62 points, had six goals in seven meetings with the Ducks before going without a point in each of the first three games of this series.
Ondrej Pavelec has fallen to 0-3-3 with a 3.91 GAA in his last six starts against the Ducks, who have held the lead for 11:21 in the past three games compared to the Jets' 65:53.
