Golden Knights at Jets
The Vegas Golden Knights won eight of their first 10 playoff games and entered the Western Conference finals with five days off, but find themselves facing a potentially deep hole if they cannot slow down the host Winnipeg Jets in Game 2 on Monday. The Jets show no signs of fatigue after a grueling series victory over Nashville, beating Marc-Andre Fleury three times in the opening 7:35 of Game 1 en route to a 4-2 victory that puts Vegas in a series deficit for the first time.
“We are going to see what kind of team we are,” Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault told reporters after he collected two assists in Game 1, but whose team had little answer for Winnipeg’s waves of pressure. “It’s definitely a must-win next game, and I think as a group everybody needs to step up, not just one or two guys.” The Golden Knights did a better job in the middle of the series opener but nonetheless matched their season low with 21 shots on net, or one fewer shot than the Jets blocked. It was more of the same for Winnipeg’s deep offense, as forward Blake Wheeler dished out three assists while defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and center Mark Scheifele each netted a goal with an assist. “It was just a matter of coming out and playing our game, keeping it simple,” Byfuglien told the media after boosting his postseason totals to five goals and 10 assists. “I felt that we got moving our feet right away. The ice opened up, and we got to moving the puck easily and doing simple things.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS: A better start is critical for Vegas, which found itself chasing the game after giving up a goal 65 seconds in, a power-play tally, and a third goal that originally was disallowed for goaltender interference but reversed after the Jets challenged. Marchessault found linemate William Karlsson on a beautiful feed for the Golden Knights’ second goal with 4:05 left in the second, but Vegas mustered just eight shots in the final period. Fleury gave up more than three goals for just the third time in 11 playoff games, finishing with 22 saves.
ABOUT THE JETS: Scheifele scored his league-high 12th goal of the playoffs in the second period, an important redirect of a Byfuglien blast on the power play to make it 4-1. Scheifele and Wheeler each have 18 points through 13 postseason games, Wheeler leads the NHL with 15 assists, and nine Jets finished the opener with a plus-rating. Winnipeg’s top defensive pairing of Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey each blocked a team-high four shots, and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck recorded 19 saves in improving to 9-4 in the playoffs.
OVERTIME
1. Scheifele is the 16th player in NHL history to have eight or more multi-point games through the first 13 games of the playoffs.
2. Vegas F Reilly Smith picked up his 11th assist of the playoffs in the opener and led the Golden Knights with five shots on goal.
3. The Jets are 5-2 on home ice in the playoffs and have outscored opponents 24-15.