The magnitude of the Golden Knights win over the Jets in Winnipeg on Thursday night is hard to overstate.
The defending champions had their finest outing in quite some time and took sole possession of the third automatic playoff berth in the Pacific Division with the 4-1 result.
“We weren’t happy the way it ended in Nashville, our last 20 minutes. I thought, you know, going into the game, we had a good start. (We) played a good first period,” said Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy.
“I thought we were the better team.”
Cassidy continued, “At end of the day, those types of wins mean a little bit more. (Against a) playoff team, a team we’re starting to develop some mutual hatred for. It was physical, and those bring the best out of us.”
Ivan Barbashev scored the game-winning goal with just over six minutes remaining, giving the Knights a 2-1 lead at that point. It was another massive moment for Barbashev, and he’s racked up quite a few in his year and a half in Vegas.
Logan Thompson was a wall for the Knights in the win. He stopped 39 of 40 shots, many of which were not easy saves, and kept the Knights in prime position to make their move in the third period.
Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring for the Knights with four minutes remaining in the first period by burying a clean snipe, courtesy of the feed from William Karlsson. The goal was good for Dorofeyev’s second in three games, and it gave the Knights a 1-0 advantage they would carry into the first intermission.
That was about as long as they would carry it. Just 3:31 into the middle stanza, Shane Monahan put the Jets on the board with a tip-in goal that was good for his 23rd of the season.
This is where the score stayed through the second intermission and for over 14 minutes in the third period. After Barbashev gave the Knights a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, he and Jack Eichel added two additional empty net goals to settle the score at 4-1.
The Golden Knights will look to extended their point streak to six games on Saturday, as they face the Wild in a matinee matchup on ESPN+. Puck drop is scheduled for noon PDT.
