They didn’t get the help they needed on the out-of-town scoreboard, but the Winnipeg Jets took care of their own business Tuesday night as they fight to stay alive in the playoff hunt.
For just the second time in their last 11 regular season meetings, the Jets were able to conquer the Vegas Golden Knights, beating them 4-1 at Canada Life Centre.
The Jets didn’t even muster a single shot on net for almost 10 minutes to start the game, but they completely flipped the script, scoring the first three goals en route to their second straight win to start the homestand.
“They hemmed us in early,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “There was a lot more shots from the outside. I mean, what was it eight-nine-nothing or whatever, but there was a couple that were in front of Helly (Connor Hellebuyck). More of it was to the outside. I just think that then we kinda got ourselves going and got playing fast and we just kinda took over the game from that point.”
Vegas had won in their last five straight trips to the Manitoba capital.
The Jets now have at least a point in six of their last seven games.
Thanks to Nashville’s win over San Jose, however, Winnipeg remains five points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left to play.
Mark Scheifele had his fourth career Gordie Howe hat trick. After recording a pair of assists, Scheifele scored the empty netter and also had a fight with Oakbank’s Brett Howden in the second period after Howden levelled Kyle Connor.
“Just the thing to do,” said Scheifele. “That’s my boy. Just the game of hockey. That’s my guy. I didn’t like the hit, so, it happens.
“I’m a terrible fighter. I think I did catch him with a left though, so, I don’t think anyone was expecting me to throw a left tonight. But, yeah, I don’t know how I have as many Gordie Howe hat tricks as I do.”
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Connor, Cole Perfetti, and Alex Iafallo also scored for Winnipeg in the win.
“Really after the first period, I thought we just closed down their rush game and their O-zone time,” Perfetti said. “They’re obviously a team that likes to make a lot of plays and they’re very talented in that area. And I thought in the second and third period we closed on them quick, didn’t give them much, and they were still trying to make plays, and I thought we found our offence from that.”
Vegas has scored just five goals in their last five games with four of them being losses.
The Golden Knights got off to the better start, registering nine shots on goal over the first nine plus minutes before Winnipeg managed to generate any.
The Jets got the game’s first power play when Nic Dowd was called for a pretty weak interference penalty and did get one shot on goal but never really threatened to score.
Winnipeg broke the ice with 2:35 to go in the period thanks to several of their star players. Scheifele tracked down a loose puck in the corner in the Vegas end and took a hit to make a play, sending the puck back to Josh Morrissey at the left point.
Morrissey made a nice move to elude a Golden Knight before skating down the boards. He then spotted Connor open at the opposite faceoff dot, so he slung a perfect pass across the ice that Connor one-timed top-corner past Adin Hill for his 32nd of the season.
Winnipeg maintained that slim lead heading to the second, despite being outshot 13-5 in the opening 20 minutes.
The top line struck again just 2:08 into the second. Shea Theodore had the puck behind his own net and sent the puck to the point, but no Golden Knight was nearby, allowing Scheifele to intercept it. He sent a pass to Alex Iafallo at the opposite faceoff dot and Iafallo wristed a shot past Hill to make it 2-0 with his 12th of the season.
Less than two minutes later, the Jets made it 3-0.
Dylan DeMelo sent the puck up the boards from his own end as several members of the Golden Knights went for a line change. Brayden McNabb whiffed on the puck as he skated onto it, allowing Gabriel Vilardi to pick it up and carry it into the Vegas zone on a 2-on-1 with Perfetti.
Vilardi held it for as long as he could as he approached the net before saucing the puck over a sliding Theodore right to the stick of Perfetti, who steered it in for his 10th of the season.
The Golden Knights got their first power play of the night with 11:06 left in the second because Iafallo was called for roughing and Vegas took advantage. Rasmus Andersson got the puck near the faceoff dot and sent a pass to the crease that went off the skate of Colton Sissons and through the legs of Connor Hellebuyck.
Less than two minutes later, Neal Pionk was given a questionable tripping penalty but with 42 seconds left in the minor, Sissons was handed a penalty for hooking.
The teams would eventually get back to 5-on-5 but not for long before Noah Hanifin went to the box for tripping. Winnipeg would not convert on the power play.
In the final minute of the period, Howden caught Connor with a hard but legal hit, and Scheifele immediately took exception. He skated over to Howden and shoved him a few times before the two dropped the gloves.
The score would stay 3-1 in Winnipeg’s favour heading to the third after the Jets outshot Vegas 9-8 in the middle frame.
Vegas was only able to generate one shot over the first 11 minutes of the third before putting Winnipeg on their fourth power play of the night but for the fourth time, the Jets failed to convert and to make matters worse, after Cole Smith came out of the box and skated down the ice for the puck, he was cross-checked into the boards by Elias Salomonsson to give Vegas a power play with 7:04 remaining.
Winnipeg got the kill but with 4:18 to go, Dylan Samberg was given a high-sticking penalty and Vegas decided to pull Hill to make it a 6-on-4. The Jets killed it off before Scheifele scored into the empty net with 1:18 left to seal the deal with his 32nd of the season.
Hellebuyck stopped 26 shots to earn the win, just his seventh in his last 21 starts.
The Jets will be back in action Thursday night against Colorado. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins just after 5 p.m. with the puck dropping shortly after 7 p.m.
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