The Manitoba-born players on the Golden Knights were a bit surprised to be playing in front of less than a full house in their return to the province of their births. I was planning on telling you how many of their fellow Manitobans came to fill the seats for tonight’s contest against the defending Stanley Cup champions, but for some reason ESPN didn’t have that data.
The hometown Jets started out playing at a high pace when the puck was dropped and Scheifele was rewarded with an early scoring chance. Winnipeg kept up the pressure over the next two shifts, leading to a rush down the left boards by Morrissey. The defender let a nice low shot go and got the desired rebound off Thompson’s pad. Iafallo was driving to the net and deftly shoveled the puck into a wide open net. Less than 2 minutes in to the game, the Jets had a 1-0 lead and the teams traded shots before Vegas started to spend more time in the offensive zone. Winnipeg were skating fast, winning the majority of face-offs in the opening frame, and making the necessary defensive plays (great block by Namestnikov) to limit the high-danger opportunities. Late in the period, Stanley was roughing up a Knight in front of Hellebuyck and was whistled for a careless high-stick. The penalty kill began great when Kupari got a stick on a pass in the d-zone and broke out with Barron to get a couple shots on the Vegas’ net. However, the Golden Knights were able to get set up eventually and some nice passing found Marchessault in the high-slot. Kupari did his best to close the gap and I believe got a deflection on the one-timer, but that didn’t stop the biscuit from beating a screened Brossoit. In the last two minutes of the first, both teams had chances with a bad turnover by Connor leading to a Vegas’ look. Winnipeg had a great late rush when Perfetti skated the puck into the zone before finding Dillon at the point. Dillon’s shot created a big rebound that went right to Perfetti, but he was absolutely stoned by Thompson’s goalstick as he flew across the crease.
First Period Stats: Score: 1-1, shots 12-10 WPG, 56% Deserve To Win WPG, Expected Goals – all situations (1.21-0.96 WPG), & 5 on 5 (1.21-.046 WPG)
The second period opened up with a Vegas 2 on 2 that was misplayed so much by DeMelo that it turned into a 2 on 1. A couple of Manitobans combined to give the Knights a 2-1 lead, with Stone setting up Howden for a tap in just 49 seconds in. The away team continued to push and Winnipeg was allowing them to enter the offensive zone at will. A nice backcheck by Scheifele assisted in breaking up an odd man rush and the pressure was only eased by Vegas’ first penalty of the game. Winnipeg’s powerplay in 2 for 14 coming into tonight’s game and Ehlers had an early look, but his 1 timer sailed wide. The Jets controlled the puck in the offensive zone for the majority of the advantage, but too many passes limited the actual shots on net. After the penalty ended, the Knights were back on the attack, pinning the defenders in their own end after a couple of failed attempts to clear the puck. Eventually, d-man Martinez was found wide open in the slot and he hammered the puck by Brossoit to make it 3 to 1 for Vegas. However, Winnipeg showed signs of life 37 seconds later when Ehlers skated up the left wing, gained the Knights’ zone before firing a pass to Namestnikov in the high slot. The Russian protected the puck as he cut to the left and then lasered a pass to Perfetti at the right of the net. Cole showed patience as he brought the puck across the net and tucked into by the beaten Thompson to make it 3 to 2 with 4 minutes to play. Those final minutes saw Brossoit stone Stone on a shot from the low slot and the 4th line (with Connor still on) getting a high danger shot by Gustafsson from a tight angle.
After Two Periods Stats Score: 3-2 VEG, shots 20-17 WPG, 52% Deserve to Win VEG, Expected Goals – all situations (1.78-1.68 VEG) & 5 on 5 (1.68-1.28 WPG).
Winnipeg had a bunch of good shifts after the puck dropped on the 3rd period. A great chance from the low slot by Iafallo, Kupari attempting a 5 hole snipe & almost being successful, the 1st line creating chances for Appleton & Morrissey, and the 2nd line did their part with a quality look by Namestnikov. In fact, the Jets had the first 10 shots of the period and it wasn’t until the mid-way point that Brossoit was tested by a good deflection. Kupari was battling Barbashev for a puck in the defensive zone and the refs ended up calling a holding call on the Knight. A powerplay chance with under 9 minutes to play and being down by one sounds like a great time for a goal, right? Well, Winnipeg’s special teams unit agreed and some beautiful quick passing by Ehlers and Scheifele was finished when Iafallo released a 1 timer from the low slot for his 2nd of the night. The expected Vegas push-back led to Iafallo getting called for a slash on a shot attempt. Vegas’ PP flexed its muscles by going 2 for 2 on the game with a cross-ice pass & perfect snipe by Eichel in the small space between the shoulder & the post. The Golden Knights take the lead with 4 minutes to play and the Jets were able to put them back on their heels. In particular, DeMelo and Perfetti had beautiful chances to tie the game, but the coach had to pull the goalie with just over a minute left. The tactic immediately back-fired and Vegas was able to ice the game with an empty net goal.
FINAL SCORE: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5 WINNIPEG JETS 3
SHOTS: WINNIPEG JETS 38 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 27
Game Observations:
- The Winnipeg Jets fall to 1-3, but if you want to look for the silver lining, the team has done a lot of good things in three of those games, including tonight.
- The amount of high danger chances the Jets are giving up this season is too much for any of our goalies to handle, it appears. Laurent Brossoit’s season debut was ruined not by poor tending, rather it’s terrible d-zone clearing attempts that are making it near-impossible to put up decent stats (Brossoit had a .840 save % on 27 shots).
- Rasmus Kupari had his best game in a Jets’ uniform tonight. Used his speed on the forecheck, created turnovers, and scoring opportunities (3 shots on net). Kind of odd to say he was good on the PK when the unit went 0 for 2 on stopping PPs, but he made some plays to stand out.
- Rick Bowness’ post-game interview seemed to stress the importance of making strong & smart passes on zone exits and admitted his team has done a very bad job so far this year.
- The switch from center to wing might have been a blessing for Cole Perfetti, as he was much more of a factor tonight with his dishes and scoring chances (had 5 of his line’s 9 shots). He seems to have serious chemistry with Vladislav Namestnikov.
- On a positive note, all four lines created scoring chances in this game. Even the 4th line had their shots (4), although Morgan Barron was the only forward who didn’t test the goalie at least once.
- Can’t believe it took me this long to talk about Alex Iafallo, but the guy had a night. Two goals and a bunch of chances to get the trick (7 shots). He ended up edging out a guy who has his stick set to the “automatic” firing mode, as Kyle Connor only managed 6.
- Liked the effort I saw from Mark Scheifele throughout the game. A beautiful backcheck to break up a scoring chance, though he did fail to clear the puck on the Knights’ 3rd goal.
- Nik Ehlers seems like the only Jet that can skate the puck into the offensive zone with any consistency. The Dane is getting up to speed and this team desperately needs him to stay healthy.
- MoneyPuck Stats: Winnipeg Jets 72.8% Deserve to Win, Winnipeg Jets 3.6 to 2.06 in expected goals overall, and the Jets dominated at 5 on 5 with a 2.99 to 1.55 advantage.
- In the end, I was entertained by the game, despite being disappointed in the end result. The coaching staff needs to go back to the basics, because if they can clean things up a bit, the Winnipeg Jets should be fun to watch.
NEXT GAME: Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers – Saturday, October 21st @ 9 pm Central
So far no Manitoba Moose players have been called up as an extra forward, but I imagine that it is only a matter of time. Especially once the franchise heads out on a road trip. Guess we will have to wait and see what Chevy’s plan is.
