LAS VEGAS — For the past two days, Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness told everyone within earshot — including his players — that each subsequent win in this opening-round series was going to be harder and harder to earn.
No, this doesn’t qualify as groundbreaking territory, nor was it meant to be uttered as a cautionary tale.
But the lesson came to fruition on Thursday night, as the Jets scored first and held a considerable edge when it came to both shots on goal and territorial play until one of the Jets' many lengthy shifts caught up to them in what turned out to be a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
With Mark Scheifele (1:57), Pierre-Luc Dubois (1:57), Neal Pionk (1:32) and Brenden Dillon (1:32) caught on the ice for an extended shift, the Jets were unable to clear the defensive zone, and then watched Golden Knights centre William Karlsson scoop up a bouncing puck and even the score at 5:54 of the second period.
“It was kind of a weird bounce, I kind of lost sight of it for a lot of it. It’s one of those ones where you obviously can’t change, when they’re turning back on you,” said Scheifele, who was on the ice for three even-strength goals against, recorded two shots on goal and was credited with four giveaways in 20:30 of ice time. “You obviously don’t want to be out there that long and be on for a goal. That’s hockey, though."
It’s far too simplistic to suggest that one long shift completely turned the momentum of the game — and potentially the series — but it’s clear it disrupted the Jets’ rhythm, especially among the forward group.
“We just got caught out there. Some of our shift lengths were way too long, then you look slow,” said Bowness. “Even on the third goal, they were out there a long time, but again, they had a great opportunity to score. (Josh Morrissey) rips it off his shoulder and they come down and score. So, do you want them to change on the way up the ice? But they had a great opportunity to score, you can’t take that away. They took advantage of their opportunity after that.”
The only other time the Jets were able to beat Golden Knights goalie Laurent Brossoit was when fourth-line centre Kevin Stenlund provided a nifty redirection after a pass from Saku Maenalanen.
This was one of those nights when the Jets’ inability to extend the lead proved costly, as the Golden Knights got a big boost from the equalizer and then watched their stars take over the game. Jack Eichel scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal, Mark Stone scored twice and added an assist to pace the offensive attack, while Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist and Alex Pietrangelo checked in with his first two assists of this series.
Karlsson, who had the lone goal for Vegas in the series opener, added an assist for the Golden Knights, leaving him tied with Stone for the team lead in both categories through two games.
“They’re great players. There are going to (be) games in this series that you’re going to notice them. That’s not a surprise,” said Bowness. “A ton of respect for that team over there. They have a lot of great talent. There are going to be times that their top-end guys look really good. Now we’re going to rely (on), going home, that our top guys look really good.”
Just like that, the Golden Knights prevented the Jets from taking a 2-0 lead heading home and turned this best-of-seven into a best-of-five after Winnipeg stole home-ice advantage with that Game 1 victory.
“Yeah, it does,” said Bowness, asked if this missed opportunity left a sour taste even after earning a split on the road to open the series. “I mean, to play as well as we did in the first. … They were the better team. They deserved to win that game, there is no question.
“Did we make it too easy on them? Yeah. We did. That’s what’s the most disappointing thing. The execution and giving up the goals we gave up, the way we gave them up, that’s disappointing. We’ll fix it and we’ll get ready for Saturday.”
Game 3 goes Saturday afternoon in Winnipeg, with puck drop scheduled for just after 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT.
“Great. We’re happy with splitting. Obviously, after how we played in Game 1, we wanted to take Game 2,” said Jets centre Adam Lowry, whose power-play goal gave him three goals through two games to lead his team in that department. “We’re disappointed we didn’t get the result, but there’s a lot of belief in our group. We’ll make some minor tweaks, get back to speed, get back on the forecheck and things like that and we’ll be in a good spot.
“Canada Life Centre is going to be rocking. It’s a tough building to play in and we haven’t had fans there (in the playoffs) for a few years, so we’re really excited.”
The goals the Jets gave up included several of those self-inflicted wounds Bowness has harped on over the course of the season, including the game-winner, where Scheifele lost a defensive zone draw and then allowed Stephenson to get inside position, which allowed him to pounce on a rebound after goalie Connor Hellebuyck was unable to handle a point shot from Pietrangelo.
Stone’s second of two goals was a result of Karlsson outmuscling a pair of Jets players behind the net before finding the Golden Knights captain alone in the slot.
Brossoit made 31 saves to record his first Stanley Cup Playoffs victory, while Hellebuyck finished with 34 saves.
Even with the loss, the Jets are feeling confident as the series shifts to snowy Manitoba for Games 3 and 4.
“I don’t think we played poorly by any means. It’s two really good hockey teams. We knew this was going to be a tight series,” said Lowry. “We felt confident going into it and I don’t think anyone was expecting a sweep. So, you just regroup for Game 3, watch some video, just tighten some things up and we’ll be in a good spot.”
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