The Vegas Golden Knights saved their best performance for last, dominating the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-1 victory on Thursday night to clinch their Western Conference first-round series in Game 5.
Chandler Stephenson scored twice as Vegas eliminated the Jets and became the first team to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“I think this was our best, or closest to a complete game,” said Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy. “But we still have work to do. Nobody plays their best in the first round, you build on it, and that’s what we’ll do.”
After losing Game 1, the Golden Knights responded by winning four straight to take the series. This win marks the team’s eighth series victory in 13 playoff matchups since entering the NHL in 2017.
Mark Stone scored a goal and two assists, and William Karlsson scored for Vegas, while goalie Laurent Brossoit made 30 saves.
“I thought this was one of our best games overall,” Stone said. “We stuck to our game plan in the last four games, and it paid off.”
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist, made 21 saves, and Kyle Connor scored Winnipeg’s lone goal late in the third period, spoiling Brossoit’s shutout.
Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness didn’t hold back after the game, expressing frustration with his team’s performance. “I’m disgusted with the lack of pushback. It’s the same issues we had back in February. Their top players outplayed ours, and it wasn’t even close,” Bowness said.
Stephenson opened the scoring just 50 seconds into the game, finishing a pass from Stone to put Vegas up 1-0. The Golden Knights then pulled away in the second period with three goals.
Stone scored 42 seconds into the second, followed by Karlsson’s one-timer off a backhand pass from Michael Amadio. Stephenson added his second goal during a power play midway through the period, making it 4-0.
Karlsson’s assist gave him 11 points in 16 potential series-clinching games, the most in franchise history.
Teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series now have a record of 300-31 (.906).
ROSTER UPDATES:
Jets players Nikolaj Ehlers, Karson Kuhlman, and Kyle Capobianco made their playoff debuts in Game 5. Vegas was without Shea Theodore, Phil Kessel, and Brayden McNabb, while Ben Hutton made his first-ever playoff appearance.
STEPPING UP:
After Max Pacioretty, Chandler Stephenson became the second player in Golden Knights history to record multiple points in four consecutive playoff games.
STONE’S IMPACT:
Mark Stone, who missed 39 regular-season games after undergoing his second back surgery in less than a year, returned in full force, tallying two three-point games in the series.
NEXT UP:
In the second round, Vegas will face either the Edmonton Oilers or Los Angeles Kings. The Oilers lead their series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Saturday. Vegas split its season series with the Kings and went 0-3-1 against Edmonton.