Jets draw first blood in 5-1 win over Vegas

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This article was published 18/04/2023 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — Now THAT is the hockey team that took the Western Conference by storm in the first half — and not the one that stumbled for much of the second-half before a late-season surge got them into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Winnipeg Jets have drawn first blood — and we mean that both figuratively and literally — with an impressive, at times dominating 5-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“That’s playoff hockey,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor.

“It takes everything, every ounce of energy you’ve got every shift. There are going to be injuries, there are going to be guys that need to step up into a role that maybe they’re not comfortable with, but that’s absolutely the identity of our team. We come in waves, no matter who it is out there.”

Winnipeg struck twice in a 62 second span early in the second period and never looked back.

Connor Hellebuyck outduelled his good friend and former backup, Laurent Brossoit, in the goaltending battle. Hellebuyck stopped 16 of 17 shots, while Brossoit turned aside 26 of 30.

Just like that, Winnipeg, the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, leads No. 1 Vegas 1-0 in the best-of-seven series. Game two goes Thursday night.

“Adversity wise, we’ve kind of seen a lot,” said Jets forward Blake Wheeler. “Important games down the stretch certainly help and we had some success in those games. To earn that last spot was definitely a benefit for our team coming in to this.”

So how did the underdogs get it done? Let’s dig deep:

1) There’s no question Pierre-Luc Dubois can be a difference-maker when he’s on his game, and that was certainly the case in this one.

Dubois was engaged right from the very start, throwing his body around, mixing it up with multiple Vegas players and helping to drive Winnipeg’s offence.

A slick feed to Kyle Connor just 84 seconds into the second period opened the scoring. Just 62 seconds later, Dubois took a pass from Wheeler and ripped a shot past Brossoit.

The raucous home crowd was stunned. And silenced.

“We got two opportunities and put two in. Just like that, you’re up 2-0 and they’re chasing the game now,” said Dubois.

William Karlsson got fans back on their feet at 15:49 of the middle frame, but the Jets didn’t buckle or break. Instead, Wheeler provided Winnipeg with some breathing room as his backhander restored the two-goal lead at 3:53 of the third.

That was more than enough offence considering the way Hellebuyck was dialled in.

Adam Lowry then struck twice in the waning minutes. First, into an empty net, and then with seconds left on the clock on a late power play.

“I thought we were getting good looks all night long,” said Connor.

2) Playoffs are where legends are born. And Morgan Barron has certainly made an early case in that department.

The 24-year-old Jets forward suffered a gruesome skate cut during a goal-mouth scramble in the first period, leaving a large trail of blood behind.

Barron returned to the game midway through the second — sporting a full cage after receiving at least 75 stitches. The Nova Scotia product is going to have quite the souvenir from his first-ever NHL postseason game.

“I was trying to figure out if the puck was in,” Barron said of his initial reaction. “Obviously, I saw the skate coming. Just an unlucky play, I think. The first thought was whether I could see out of the eye.”

It actually could have been worse, considering Barron fell face-first on to Brossoit’s skate with the Jets swarming around the Golden Knights net trying to open the scoring.

Vegas forward Chandler Stephenson appeared to pull Barron’s head back once he realized what was happening.

Barron’s face may be an ugly mess, but the win looked pretty good from his perspective.

“I’ve been saying it for a while, I feel like we’re peaking at the right time. So, it was a good 60 minutes,” he said.

3) The curious case of Nikolaj Ehlers took another twist, with the flashy winger a late scratch for the Jets.

Ehlers was hurt a week ago in Minnesota when Wild forward Ryan Hartman caught him with a blindside hit. Hartman was given a one-game suspension.

Ehlers was considered day-to-day but was a full participant at Monday’s practice and declared himself ready to go. However, he wasn’t on the ice for morning skate or the pre-game warmup.

The Jets haven’t disclosed what Ehlers is dealing with beyond an upper-body injury.

“There wasn’t necessarily a setback, nor was there the progress that we hoped,” said Jets coach Rick Bowness.

“And we’re not going to put a player on the ice that isn’t at least close to 100 per cent. And put him in a vulnerable position where you risk a setback. I know he wants to play. And that’s what was misleading to everyone, like yeah, I wanna play, I wanna play. But medically, he was not ready to play.”

His absence forced some shuffling. Nino Niederreiter moved up to take his second-line spot beside Wheeler and Vladislav Namestnikov. Barron was re-united with Lowry and Mason Appleton on the third line. And David Gustafsson, who was to be a healthy scratch, came into the lineup on the fourth line with Kevin Stenlund (who had also been a game-time decision with an injury) and Saku Maenalanen,

Hartman, by the way, scored the game-winning goal in double overtime on Monday as Minnesota beat Dallas.

Injury, meet insult.

4) Ehlers’ absence was really noticeable on the power play. Winnipeg got a pair of chances in the first period but couldn’t generate much.

Ehlers has been the straw stirring the drink as of late, and the unit just didn’t look the same with Wheeler taking his spot along with Mark Scheifele, Dubois, Connor and Josh Morrissey.

Fortunately for the Jets, they actually won the special teams battle. They were able to kill off a trio of penalties they took in the game, with Lowry’s late power play tally pushing it in their favour.

“We didn’t allow them to break us down through the box,” said Lowry.

“They like to utilize the bumper, a lot of slot plays, for the most part we shut that down. It was huge for us to get all three kills. We have to be ready. They’re probably going to make some adjustments. Especially that last kill, we didn’t really give them any looks. We were taking away their lanes and causing some turnovers.”

5) Vegas does it up in style, and Tuesday night had a little extra sizzle for some high-stakes hockey.

From complementary hair and beard dying and tattoo artists working outside the rink, to the elaborate pre-game introduction which included the projected image of a fire-breathing dragon breaking through the ice and starting a small inferno after vanquishing the “enemy from Winnipeg”, there was some serious showbiz elements on display

T-Mobile is one of the liveliest and loudest buildings in the league, at times literally vibrating with both authentic and pumped-in noise.

Plenty of Jets jerseys were spotted in the crowd, suggesting fans from the Great White North also made the trip. No doubt it was well worth it given the final result.

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Having already snatched home-ice advantage away, the Jets will now try to make it two-for-two on Thursday.

“We’ve already talked to them about that. We know Thursday night is going to be a lot tougher game than tonight,” said Bowness.

“And game three will be tougher, game four will be tougher. That’s what happens in the playoffs. So we’ll reset, we’ll come in (Wednesday), we’ll have a quick practice and we’ll get ready for Thursday.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.