The Winnipeg Jets played game number 2 of 3 of the Western road trip tonight in Vegas against the Golden Knights. After a 4-1 loss against the Kings on Tuesday, the team with the best home record in the league, the Jets were battling another team that doesn’t lose often at home. The Golden Knights were going for the season series sweep against the Jets, winning this season’s prior matchups 4-3 and 3-2. With only 6 games to go after this one, every game counts when it comes to the Jets trying to secure 1st in the Central Division and Western Conference.

The Golden Knights continue to sit pretty comfortably atop the Pacific Division, but they still have meaningful games coming up in order to try to secure a 1st round matchup against a Western Conference team in a Wild Card spot. Eric Comrie and Adin  Hill (6-0-0 in his career against the Jets) were tonight’s goalies, as the Jets continue to alternate Comrie and Hellebuyck late in the season. The Jets played a strong first 40 minutes, and Comrie denied the Golden Knights as they tried to get back in this game in the 3rd period. The lights are always bright in Vegas, but the Jets were able to focus up and pick up a big win on this Thursday night of hockey.

The first 5 minutes of the game the Jets mostly looked like the better of the two teams. Shots on goal were 3-1 Jets early as they attempted to open the scoring on the road. A few minutes later, Colin Miller took a roughing penalty, giving the Golden Knights their 1st powerplay of the night. Only 1 shot was registered on the man advantage, as the Jets penalty kill continued its recent stretch of being perfect.

With 7 minutes to play in the 1st, Mark Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead. With only 1 goal in his last 12 games, this goal was a big one for Scheifele, who is now up to 37 goals on the season. Luke Schenn sent a pass up the ice to Alex Iafallo. After a quick deke to create some space, Iafallo fired one across to Scheifele, who had half the net open and snapped one past Hill.

The go-ahead goal seemed to give the Jets some more life, as they got a few more scoring chances shortly after. With just under 2 minutes to play, Adam Lowry scored his 15th of the season to give the Jets a 2-0 lead. After a nice zone entry, the puck was shot around to Logan Stanley, who fired one towards the net. Nino Niederreiter found the rebound, and passed it to Adam Lowry nearby, who wristed one past Hill. The Jets took a 2-0 lead into the 1st intermission, leading in shots 11-5.

The start of the 2nd period featured more quality hockey from the Jets. Apart from trying to make it 3-0, the defence was doing a great job at not allowing the Golden Knights any space when they had the puck. The frustration was starting to build up for Vegas, and at the halfway mark in the 2nd, Nicolas Roy high sticked Mark Scheifele, giving the Jets their 1st powerplay of the night.

Right off the faceoff, the Jets man advantage got to work. The 1st powerplay unit was unsuccessful in generating any good chances, but the 2nd powerplay unit was able to make it 3-0 late in the 2 minute advantage. A nice display of puck movement saw Niederreiter find Mason Appleton, before the puck was quickly sent back to Colin Miller, who ripped a slap shot past Hill for his 4th of the season. The 96 mph shot was another example of Miller’s powerful slapper, and the Jets were now up by 3.

The rest of the 2nd period was much like the rest of the game, with the Jets generating more scoring chances while the Golden Knights were unable to get many pucks on Comrie. As the 2nd period concluded the Jets continued to be up 3-0, while leading the Golden Knights in shots on goal in the 2nd 8-7, and an overall lead in shots 19-12.

Vegas wasn’t going out quietly tonight, especially in front of their fans at T-Mobile Arena. The Jets got their 2nd powerplay of the night with 15 minutes left after Brayden McNabb tripped Nikolaj Ehlers. This man advantage was unsuccessful for the Jets, as the Golden Knights penalty killers made sure they weren’t going to be down 4-0. After the powerplay, it was Vegas that started to look like the better team. After 10 minutes played in the 3rd, Vegas led in shots 8-1, with Comrie coming up big with some key saves.

Clearly the Golden Knights wanted to get on the scoreboard this game, as they pulled their goalie with 5 minutes to go. Vegas controlled play (as expected) on the 6 on 5, and Comrie had to make a few more solid saves. Up 3, the Jets weren’t super eager to get an empty netter, as they continued to defend in the last minutes of this game.

With just under a minute to go, Kyle Connor chopped the puck out of the Jets zone, and Cole Perfetti collected the puck. After going up the ice a little bit, he backhanded the puck down into the empty net, making it 4-0 Jets. His 18th goal of the season was the final goal in this game, and the Jets secured a big 4-0 win, tying their franchise record of 52 wins. Final shots on goal in the 3rd were 14-3 for the Golden Knights, and Vegas led in shots 26-22 overall.

Tonight was a great bounce back win for the Jets. A complete 60 minutes of hockey was played, and it resulted in a big 2 points. The 3rd period was tilted in Vegas’ direction, but Comrie came up clutch by shutting the door as the Golden Knights tried to get back in this game. Comrie picked up his 2nd shutout of the season, and the Jets are now back up 4 points ahead of the Dallas Stars in the Central Division. The Jets 3 game road trip concludes on Saturday night in Utah, with puck drop slightly after 6 pm CT. Just 3 road and 3 home games remain now for the Jets 2024-25 regular season, as the playoffs begin in 2 weeks time. Check back here on Saturday for a preview on the Jets and Utah matchup.