WINNIPEG — Head coach Bruce Cassidy felt some extra satisfaction after his Vegas Golden Knights grounded the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Thursday.
The game was physical from the get-go and tied 1-1 after two periods.
Forward Ivan Barbashev then led the charge, scoring the game-winner with 5:29 remaining in the third. He added an empty-netter with 1:45 left and Jack Eichel notched one with 34 seconds on the clock.
“At the end of the day, those types of wins mean a little bit more,” Cassidy said. “They’re a playoff team. It’s a team we’re starting to develop a mutual hatred for.
“It was physical and those bring the best out of us, I think, those types of games.”
Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Golden Knights (40-25-8), who were playing the third contest of a four-game road trip (2-0-1).
The Jets have lost five straight (0-4-1), matching a season-high skid from late January (0-4-1).
“That was a good team we played tonight and we outplayed them. We just didn’t score,” Winnipeg head coach Rick Bowness said.
Logan Thompson stopped 39 shots for Vegas, which is 7-3-1 in its past 11 games.
Sean Monahan scored for the Jets (44-23-6) in front of the team’s seventh sellout of the season and third consecutive full house of 15,225 fans at Canada Life Centre.
Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves in Winnipeg's second game of a five-game homestand.
The Jets finished the game going 0-for-5 on the power play and are now 1-for-21 In their past seven outings. Vegas was 0-for-1.
“I think the power play’s got to be better,” Monahan said. “I mean, you get that many opportunities you have to score a goal. I don’t think we played terrible. A few costly mistakes and we lose the game.”
Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers missed an open net during a man advantage early in the third period.
“It would have been nice to put that in, and the way it was going today, we probably would have ended up with the two points. That’s on me,” Ehlers said.
Vegas led 1-0 after a first period in which a playoff-like intensity kicked in early.
“That all started from the first shift out there,” Barbashev said. “Really physical game and it just felt like a playoff game, to be honest.”
Jets towering defenceman Logan Stanley traded punches with mismatched Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar three minutes into the contest.
A couple minutes later, Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry put a big check on centre William Karlsson.
Golden Knights forward Chandler Stephenson then tripped Nino Niederreiter, which sparked all skaters to pair up just 6:44 into the first frame.
The Jets directed three shots at Thompson, including a one-timer by Mark Scheifele the goalie denied with a pad.
Dorofeyev got the game’s first goal when he fired the puck from inside the circle over Hellebuyck’s glove at 15:56.
Vegas went on the power play 41 seconds later but couldn’t stretch its lead.
Monahan recorded his 23rd goal of the season when he tipped in an Ehlers’ shot at 3:31 of the second.
The Jets had three power plays in the middle frame but couldn’t capitalize.
Winnipeg also had the man advantage seven minutes into the third period and didn’t get a shot on Thompson.
Vegas defenceman Nicolas Hague was then dinged for an illegal check to the head of Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov. A major was reduced to a minor after a review.
Scheifele responded by fighting Hague and he got an instigator penalty, five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute game misconduct with 8:37 remaining. Hague received an additional five for fighting.
Barbashev rushed the net and threw a high backhand shot that went past Hellebuyck at 14:31, then followed up with an unassisted empty-net marker at 18:15 to give him 18 goals on the season.
Eichel put the puck into an empty net for his 25th.
NOTES
Winnipeg is 4-6-1 in its past 11 games. … The Golden Knights have defeated the Jets in their past six matches. … Dorofeyev has three goals in his past four games for Vegas. … Namestnikov played his 700th career NHL game.
UP NEXT
Jets: Host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Golden Knights: Visit the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
