Jets dominate in 4-0 win over Golden Knights

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This article was published 06/03/2020 (2013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the kind of impressive performance that makes you wonder just where the ceiling might be for these Winnipeg Jets.  

After all, an argument could be made that they iced their deepest lineup of the season Friday night at a loud and rowdy Bell MTS Place. And they played like it, too, dominating the Vegas Golden Knights from start to finish in an 4-0 victory which vaults them back into a playoff spot.

“Playing that kind of game against Vegas is hard. They have a really good team. It’s not easy to get points from them. It was huge for us, because every point matters from now on,” said forward Patrik Laine.

Indeed they do. Winnipeg improves to 35-28-6 and once again occupy one of the two Western Conference wildcard spots with 13 games left on their schedule. Vegas, which had won nine of 10 to begin the night, falls to 37-24-8 and continue to lead the Pacific Division.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 29 shots he faced for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season. He’s not only a legitimate Vezina Trophy candidate for best netminder in the league, but an argument could be made for some Hart Trophy votes as well as league MVP.

“It’s a great milestone, but it’s a testament to the guys in front of me and how well we’ve been playing. When we bring it we know we can shut teams down,” said Hellebuyck. 

Coach Paul Maurice suddenly has lots of options at his disposal, with Mathieu Perreault returning to the lineup Friday after a 16-game injury absence. Laine and Josh Morrissey also recently came back from nursing hurts, bolstering a roster that also includes trade deadline acquisitions Dylan DeMelo and Cody Eakin.

As a result, Winnipeg’s four lines and three defence pairs were perhaps the most balanced and talented they’ve been in some time. And with shutdown centre Adam Lowry on the verge of returning as early as next week, the Jets are getting healthy just in time for a big push over the final four weeks.

And so while Hellebuyck had to be sharp as usual, this wasn’t a case of the goaltender stealing the show as we’ve seen so often this season. He had plenty of help as the Jets scored early and often to give him some breathing room.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored just 32 seconds into the game, patiently waiting out Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, taking the puck behind the net and banking it in off Vegas forward Ryan Reaves for his 24th of the year.

“The perfect first shift to get the crowd fired up, get the game going for us,” said Maurice. 

His club struck again at 4:41 of the period as Laine notched his 27th of the campaign, quickly gathering a loose puck in his feet and beating Fleury while on the power play.  Just like that, the Jets were in unfamiliar territory, enjoying a 2-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes of any game for the first time since Jan. 14.

And they kept coming, too, with Kyle Connor scoring his team-leading 36th at 18:10. Jack Roslovic made a great feed on a two-on-one rush that came after an ugly turnover from Vegas forward Nicolas Roy. Connor has now scored in five straight games as he continues to set a new single-season high for goals. 

“That was something we definitely needed. We’ve been kind of struggling with our first periods lately. Been always kind of chasing the game. But tonight, three goals in the first, that’s huge for us. It gave us confidence and a little bit of security for the next two,” said Laine.

Perreault made good on his return by scoring at 14:00 of the middle frame, taking a great slap pass from Morrissey to score his seventh of the year, and first since Nov. 23.

“That was awesome. It was just a good feeling to be back on the bench and fighting with the guys,” said Perreault, who skated on the fourth line with Nick Shore and Mason Appleton and said the strong start was key.

“We’ve been struggling to get that first goal so playing with the lead was key. When (Hellebuyck) is playing like that, he was seeing every puck and every shot they took was in the chest. He was making himself big or they were missing the net. When he plays like that, he gives us the best chance to win, for sure.”

Vegas generated plenty of chances during the game, coming closest with a couple posts, but couldn’t find a way to solve Hellebuyck. 

“It was a good team game. I thought our roster top to bottom played real good and our details were phenomenal,” said Hellebuyck, who cited a playoff-like atmosphere in the building that brought back feelings of the Western Conference final two springs ago between these two clubs.

“That felt like a typical Winnipeg game. When our crowd gets into it like that it’s so easy to get some momentum and really carry and push our pace on them. I’m just having a lot of fun and taking every moment in like it might not happen again.”

The Jets are now 2-0 on this homestand after starting it with a 3-1 win over Buffalo on Tuesday. They’ll attempt to finish it on a high on Monday night by hosting the Arizona Coyotes, one of several rival teams they’re currently jockeying for position with. 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg