GOLDEN KNIGHTS GROUND JETS FOR GAME 2 VICTORY
Vegas puts on defensive clinic to knot conference final at 1-1, writes Ken Wiebe.
VEGAS 3, WINNIPEG 1
The statement itself may have been a tad overdramatic, but after Jonathan Marchessault called it a must-win for the visitors, he went out and ensured the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t lose consecutive games for the first time in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Marchessault took advantage of a neutral-zone turnover late in the first period and scored on a breakaway, then added an important insurance marker in the third to help propel the Golden Knights to a 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday at Bell MTS Place.
“Nothing ’s changed. We watched it all year long,” said Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant. “Very seldom have we had a bad losing streak, lost two or three or four in a row.”
That’s a big part of the reason why the expansion Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division and have accumulated nine wins so far in the playoffs.
The Western Conference final is tied 1-1 as the series shifts to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the next two games.
The Jets came out skating well, but as the period progressed, they had some issues with puck management.
Jets winger Patrik Laine was unable to clear the puck out of the defensive zone, allowing the Knights’ Shea Theodore to find Tomas Tatar alone at the side of the net.
Tatar hit the side of the net with his initial attempt and then hit the post on his second, but the third time was the charm as he stuffed the loose puck over the goal-line past Conner Hellebuyck to open the scoring.
Tatar, the Golden Knights’ prized acquisition at the trade deadline from the Detroit Red Wings, had been a healthy scratch in seven of the first 11 playoff games.
But when Golden Knights forward David Perron was unavailable because of an undisclosed injury, Tatar drew back into the lineup.
“Definitely has a good shot, great release. That’s what he can do really well,” Gallant said before the game. “Great shot in the slot.”
Although the fit hasn’t been as good as expected, moments like that are part of the reason why Tatar was brought in: to help provide some additional scoring.
On Marchessault’s goal, the Jets were caught on a bad line change and winger Kyle Connor had his pocket picked in the neutral zone.
“First time I saw (Marchessault), he was a skilled guy who stayed on the outside, (he) didn’t really battle,” said Gallant. “The reason why he’s a 30to 40-goal scorer now is because he’s more competitive, he’ll go to those hard areas to score some goals. He plays a good, strong game. Small guy, but very competitive.”
Connor scored a power-play goal at 7:17 of the third period to make things interesting, but the Golden Knights responded 88 seconds later to restore the two-goal cushion when Marchessault finished off a slick feed from linemate Reilly Smith, who had two assists in the contest.
Smith has 13 assists in 12 games and finds himself two behind Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who leads the playoffs after tying for the league lead during the regular season with Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Jets went into the contest expecting a big push from the Golden Knights and that’s precisely what they got.
After a building a two-goal cushion, the Golden Knights clamped down defensively and limited the scoring chances against.
The Jets never really got their speed game going, which has been a common occurrence in the five losses during the postseason.
“They’re a quick team and we expect this series to just ramp up as we go,” said Jets defenceman Tyler Myers.
“It’s only going to get faster and faster.”
Although the Jets managed to score four times against Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the series opener, the three-time Stanley Cup winner was determined to do what he could to even up the series.
Fleury was solid when the Jets made an early push and caught several breaks with pucks clanging off the iron behind him — including an early chance off the crossbar for Nikolaj Ehlers and a second-period rebound chance for Andrew Copp — as he finished with 30 saves.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck also had the benefit of a couple of posts helping him out with Erik Haula and Ryan Carpenter ringing shots off the post.
Hellebuyck finished with 25 saves.
The Jets were the best team on home ice during the regular season, going 32-7-2, but they’ve now dropped three of the past four after winning 13 consecutive games at Bell MTS Place and shouldn’t be lacking confidence as they step into T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights are 4-1 during the post-season.
On the flip side, the Jets are 4-2 on the road during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Golden Knights made one other lineup change up front, inserting Tomas Nosek for Oscar Lindberg.
“From the first meeting we’ve had that started the season, we said there’s probably going to be 30 players used in this season,” said Gallant. “We didn’t know we were going to be battling for a playoff spot at that time.
“Everybody that’s stepped in played good games. I’ve told our local media plenty of times, ‘This guy is sitting out not from bad play, but because we have too many players.’ Very seldom have I had to sit a guy out because he was playing bad.”