Skip to main content

Golden Knights beat Jets on the road to take commanding series lead

*Photo from TheScore*
Vegas leads series 3-1
   The White Out up North was quieted by an army of Knights. Shea Theodore had two assists, Brett Howden scored two goals, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Monday night in Winnipeg.

   After losing the series opener, Vegas has now won 3 straight games to put the Jets on the brink of elimination ahead of game 5. In addition to Howden and Theodore, Chandler Stephenson also had a two point game thanks to two assists.

   Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said that "At the end of the day, no panic, just take care of business. Play the right way and end up getting the win, that's what we came here for. I think we're the better team, but usually when you watch the game you can get a better feel for it, but I never felt we were in trouble tonight."

   Starting the scoring for the Jets was Blake Wheeler, who gave them a 1-0 lead with assists from Neal Pionk and Nino Niederreiter 5:53 into the game. Exactly 4 minutes later, Howden scored the first playoff goal of his career, tying the game at a 1-1 score with Stephenson getting the lone assist.

   Late in the second period, Vegas took the lead. William Karlsson made it a 2-1 game with his 3rd goal of the playoffs, coming 13:32 into the second. 47 seconds later, it was Ivan Barbashev who scored, making it a 3-1 lead for the Golden Knights after two periods, with Theodore and Stephenson getting assists.

   On the power play 2:57 into the 3rd period, Pierre-Luc Dubois answered back for the Jets, cutting the deficit to 3-2 on his second goal of the series. They couldn't score again, while Vegas did. With 17 seconds on the clock, Howden scored into the empty net for his second goal of the game to seal a 4-2 win.

   Getting the start in net for the Golden Knights was Laurent Brossoit, who won his 3rd straight game against his old team. Brossoit made 24 saves on 26 Winnipeg shots, which was good for a .923 save percentage.

   Brossoit said that the win "Feels great, especially a big swing game like the fourth game usually is, and just the fashion that we did it in. Everyone was playing well tonight. All four lines were going, all D pairings were going. We didn't really give them anything. They're dealing with some injuries, but we've got a veteran group that didn't get complacent, and we took it to them."

   It was Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes once again for the Jets as they lost their 3rd game in a row. Hellebuyck stopped 26 out of the 29 shots on goal he saw from the Golden Knights, giving him a .897 save percentage in the loss.

   Jets head coach Rick Bowness said "Our team played very hard tonight. We adjusted, and we've been through this before early in the year when we had five or six guys out, key guys out. And now we're faced with it again. And the difference now, obviously, is you're in the playoffs and you're playing an excellent hockey club every night. And they are a good hockey club. So are we. We'll find a way. We fought through this before. Are we missing some keys guys? Yes. We'll find a way to win that game on Thursday."

   Up next, game 5 of the series is back on the Las Vegas strip on Thursday night. The Jets will try to win and force a game 6 back in Winnipeg to stay alive, while the Golden Knights will look to punch their ticket to the second round.

Comments