by The Winnipeg Jets lost their second straight game on Friday, losing 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on the road. Jets goaltender Eric Comrie did everything he could to help Winnipeg stay in the game, but allowed four goals on 30 shots, with most of the goals not his fault.
Golden Knights forwards Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev had huge performances with two goals each. The Jets had their own multi-goal scorer in Cole Perfetti, who ended his 11-game drought in spectacular fashion.
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The match started very quickly, with both teams playing very tight defensively. The Golden Knights had a power play opportunity, but they have struggled on the power play with just one power play goal in their last six games. That was very different from the 16 power play goals they scored in their first 17 games, giving them the second-best percentage in the league.
However, they were unable to capitalize and the Jets used this victory to their advantage. A few minutes later, Winnipeg charges up the ice and Nikolaj Ehlers gets a chance, crossing the net, but Adin Hill makes the save. The Jets have the puck in Vegas’ end and feed it to Josh Morrissey, who takes a shot on net that deflects Perfetti cutting and redirecting past Hill for the first goal of the game.
Winnipeg continued to pile on the pressure, trying to extend its lead with top-line forwards Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor generating scoring chances on a power play prompted by a Howden call, but ultimately, Winnipeg was unable to could not overtake Hill.
In the last two minutes of the period, Morgan Barron was surprised and tried to pass to the defense, but gave it to an already fast Howden, who was looking to make up for his penalty. He does so by outrunning Logan Stanley on the Jets blue line and coming in with a clean breakaway and driving across the crease and beating Comrie for an easy goal, tying the game in one fell swoop.
Vegas wastes no time in increasing its lead as Jack Eichel leads a rush toward the Jets end with just seconds left in the period. He makes a pass up the slot to Pavel Dorofeyev, who takes a shot on net that Comrie stops, but the rebound is headed to a wide-open Barbashev, giving the Golden Knights their first lead of the game heading into the second.
Over the next 20 minutes, Winnipeg wanted to show that it was tired of the slow pace of play and had seven hits in the first five minutes of the second period. The Jets were behind in the shooting department, but their puck possession kept them in the game as they tried to generate scoring chances.
Like the Golden Knights’ go-ahead goal, the Jets rushed the ice for a strange man’s run with five minutes left in the period. Morrissey rolls with the puck and quickly recognizes that Alex Iafallo’s passing lane in the middle is blocked and Perfetti has his passing lanes blocked on the other side of the ice. Morrissey takes a quick shot from Hill’s pad, looking to bounce it past Perfetti on the other side for a goal scored. He achieved this with perfect precision as Perfetti missed nothing and scored his second goal of the match to equalize.
The game was tied and Winnipeg looked to regain the lead in the opening minutes of the third with seven shots on goal in the first four minutes of the period. The Golden Knights have a lucky break when they hit Iaffalo’s skate and bounce off Eichel near the faceoff dot. He finds Barbashev, who quickly turns after seeing the deflected puck and creates space for himself to be wide open in the slot for a pass. When Eichel throws the pass, Barbashev doesn’t miss and scores the go-ahead goal to make it 3-2 for Vegas.
The Jets struggled to win faceoffs all night, but managed one midway through the third count. Scheifele gets it to Connor, who feeds the puck to Morrissey and gives Scheifele time to get to the net and clear space for a shot. He does so as Morrissey passes it at the top of the zone near the blue line to Neal Pionk. He wastes no time as Pionk fires the puck with a clear trajectory toward the net and past Hill for a very satisfying goal to tie the game at three.
The match was very close and seemed destined for overtime, but Howden didn’t let that happen. The Manitoba native scores his second goal of the game just four minutes from time on an easy crossfield pass that saw Dylan DeMelo try to pinch William Karlsson, but no one covered DeMelo’s man in Howden. It was an easy goal that could have been avoided if the Jets had seen the play as it was unfolding and blocked the passing lane.
Winnipeg had a chance to tie the game late in the game after gaining a power play in the final two minutes, but fell short. The Jets will look to bounce back and avoid their third straight loss in another tough game against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. It’s been a very tough road trip for Winnipeg, as they’ve had to face many of the best teams in the West on the road, but their hot start to the season still keeps them in the driver’s seat as they sit in first place in the Central Division .
