Lethargic Golden Knights Stumble In Cup Playoffs Game 1, Lose, 5-1, To Winnipeg Jets Before 18,006 Tuesday; Game 2 In Vegas Thursday
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
After a year hiatus from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Vegas Golden Knights were back in the postseason at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday.
But the six-year-old VGK did not perform up to its Western Conference top seed status, dropping a 5-1 decision to the eighth-seeded Winnipeg Jets before an announced crowd of 18,006. The Knights mustered a mere 17 shots on goal, including only two in the third period in Game 1 of the Best-of-7 first round series.
You need an intensity level that was greater than the one we had — Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy.
In his postgame presser, VGK coach Bruce Cassidy was blunt in his assessment of the Knights loss. Cassidy said the team needs to ratchet up the intensity to the Stanley Cup postseason standard, decrease the self-inflicted errors, move the puck quicker on the power play and manage the puck better.
“When we’re good we’re on top of teams,” Cassidy said.
The Knights’ captain, Mark Stone, returned to his first game in more than three months after back surgery and noted it’s a seven-game series.
Cassidy said Stone was “rusty” in his first game back. “It’ll take time for Mark to get going,” the VGK coach said.
Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc DuBois scored 62 seconds apart early in the second period for a 2-0 lead for the Jets.
The Golden Knights never recovered.
Much later in the middle stanza, it was a throwback to VGK Season 1 when William Karlsson (43 goals in VGK Year 1) took a pass from Ivan Barbashev, sped in and fired a rocket past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
The big playoff crowd was fired up and then the Knights went on the power play when Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler crosschecked VGK right wing Phil Kessel.
The Knights didn’t score on the PP and went into the second intermission trailing, 2-1.
“When we bent, we didn’t break,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said after the game.
Winnipeg veteran Blake Wheeler, 36 from Plymouth MN, scored on a backhander and the Jets led, 3-1, in the third period.
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The Golden Knights were 51-22-9 for 111 points, tops in the Western Conference. The VGK gathered more points on the road than at T-Mobile Arena. The Knights were 25-15-1 at home and 26-7-8 on the road.
The home ice troubles resurfaced tonight.
The Winnipeg Jets, 46-33-3 for 95 points, were clearly stronger at home with 26-13-2 on home ice and 20-20-1 on the road.
The Knights allowed fans to download an app for the “immersive experience.” The Immersive experience seems to be the big things these days in the entertainment world.
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It was interesting to see all the NHL sponsors having dasher board signs, while the VGK did have a few sponsors on the boards like The D hotel-casino.
Also missing was the Stanley Cup artwork on the ice. Those Cups on the ice could have been missing because their spots on the ice were where the NHL has virtual ads.
A lame Golden Knights power play, which included several errant passes in the VGK offensive zone, brought out the boo birds in the final period.
When we bent, we didn’t break — Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness
Adam Lowry dropped an empty-netter into the goal and the Jets had a 4-1 lead. Winnipeg added a final score in the final minute and skated away with a 5-1 drubbing of the Pacific Division champs.
Game 2 is Thursday back here in Vegas at 7 PM. All four visiting and lower-seeded teams in the Western Conference won their Game 1 road games. Game 1 winners were Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Winnipeg here in Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s NHL playoff final scores:
