William Karlsson and Ivan Barbashev scored 47 seconds apart in the second period, propelling the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. This win gives the Golden Knights a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.
The Golden Knights can eliminate Winnipeg in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday night in Las Vegas. Teams that take a 3-1 lead in such series hold a record of 299-31.
“At the end of the day, no panic, just take care of business,” said Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy. “Play the right way and end up getting the win; that’s what we came here for.”
Winnipeg suffered more than a game loss as veteran star center Mark Scheifele exited early in the first period due to an upper-body injury. He joins a growing list of injured teammates, including all-star defenseman Josh Morrissey (injured in Game 3) and speedy forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who hasn’t played in the playoffs.
“Upper-body injury, and he’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness said about Scheifele.
Manitoba-born forward Brett Howden scored twice for the Golden Knights, including an empty-netter.
“Both games had both my parents and all my siblings here, as well as in-laws, so it was pretty special to be able to do it in front of them,” said Howden, who hails from Oakbank, Manitoba.
Chandler Stephenson and Shea Theodore each had two assists, while Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves.
“We didn’t really give them anything,” said Brossoit, who played three seasons with the Jets. “They’re dealing with some injuries, but we’ve got a veteran group that didn’t get complacent and we took it to them.”
Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist, and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg. Neal Pionk added two assists, extending his point streak to seven assists in four games. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced for Winnipeg.
“We have two options,” Dubois said. “We can either feel bad for ourselves or have a positive mindset. We won one in Vegas before. We feel like we have the recipe to do it again.”
The score was 1-1 after the first period and 3-1 in favor of Vegas following the second.
Scheifele had fans cheering and then worrying in a matter of minutes. On a breakaway about two-and-a-half minutes into the game, Scheifele took a close shot that Brossoit stopped. He then got tripped up and crashed into the end boards on his left side. He got up and continued skating but left the game at 5:11 after attempting a weak shot and clutching his right arm.
Scheifele, who led the Jets with a career-best 42 goals in the regular season, had one goal in the playoffs.
Wheeler opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 5:53. Shortly after, Howden tied the game exactly four minutes later by capitalizing on a blocked shot and putting the loose puck past Hellebuyck.
The Golden Knights extended their lead in the second period with Karlsson’s goal at 13:32, followed by Barbashev’s tip of Theodore’s shot at 14:19.
Dubois scored 3-2 on a power play at 2:53 of the third, scoring with a bouncing puck that went off Alex Pietrangelo’s stick and into the net beside Brossoit.
NOTES
Stephenson’s two assists gave him multiple points in three straight games, making him the fourth player in Golden Knights’ history to achieve this in playoff games. Vegas forward Phil Kessel played in his 100th career playoff game. Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley took Morrissey’s roster spot. Jets backup goalie David Rittich (lower body) missed the game and was replaced by emergency AHL call-up Arvid Holm.