The Winnipeg Jets will return indoors Tuesday night, opening a three-game West Coast swing against the Anaheim Ducks after playing in the wind and snow of Regina, Saskatchewan.The Jets earned a much-needed 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night in the Heritage Classic outdoor game played at Mosaic Stadium, home of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders.The victory is something to build on. Everything else will be harder to emulate moving forward as snowy conditions created a disjointed game that caused bouncing pucks and slow-motion passes."It was fun," Jets right wing Blake Wheeler said. "The temperature wasn't too bad, the wind wasn't too bad. The snow made it look cool, but we could have done without it. It made it a bit snowy but that ice was phenomenal." The ice will be a bit more predictable on Tuesday as the Jets look to improve on a 3-2 road record.Before playing outdoors over the weekend, Winnipeg was just 1-4 during a stretch of home games when they were outscored 17-8. Before that run at home, the Jets won each of their last two road games, at Chicago and Pittsburgh."We've had a number of chances down the slot that we've missed the net on," said head coach Paul Maurice, whose team was eighth in the NHL in shots before the start of play Monday with 389, but 24th in goals with 30. "The first period of the Edmonton game (Oct. 20), the shots were 6-1 at one point and four of our 'A' chances were from the slot that went wide or over the net." The Ducks got off to a fast start this season, but like the Jets, it has been hard to find the back of the net lately. Anaheim was 6-2 to open the season but has gone 1-4 since a 2-1 loss to the Flames on Oct. 20. Anaheim has been outscored 17-10 over its last five games.Tuesday's game is the start of a season-long seven-game home stretch for the Ducks that won't end until they play the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 14.Out of sync and lackluster Sunday night, the Ducks dropped a 5-2 decision on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights that was not as close as the score might indicate."It's definitely something we're not proud of," Ducks right wing Jakob Silfverberg said, according to the Orange County Register. "You're not going to win all 82 games, but there's a difference in the way we were losing. It's nothing that represents our club. It's not the way we want to play. Everything but our goaltending was not even close to what it's supposed to be." Ryan Getzlaf did give the Ducks a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, but it was all Vegas from there. Anaheim was outshot 17-5 in the opening period. The Ducks had just 15 shots on goal in the game."It doesn't feel good," Ducks center Adam Henrique said. "We have to learn from that and have a response when we get home on Tuesday." --Field Level Media
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