One last common season recreation on the west coast for the Winnipeg Jets and it was in opposition to their hated rivals, the Vegas Golden Knights. A workforce that they haven’t crushed up to now 3 years….so the True Northers had their work lower out for them. Right here is how I noticed issues play out….
GAME RECAP
The Jets had some lineup adjustments previous to the late puck drop, with defenseman Luke Schenn in a position to return to the ice after lacking one contest and backup goalie Eric Comrie getting the nod in web. Winnipeg began the sport off effectively, with an intense forecheck that allowed them to get the primary 4 photographs on web as they managed the early play. Cole Perfetti had an ideal look when he flew down the left wing earlier than testing Vegas’ Adin Hill with a pair of shot makes an attempt. The Knights’ NHL main powerplay bought their first alternative of the sport when Colin Miller was known as for a questionable roughing penalty, however Winnipeg did an excellent job of limiting the probabilities in opposition to due to a pleasant block by Brandon Tanev. Again at even energy, the franchises traded appears to be like earlier than the Jets took again management with back-to-back cycle shifts. It began off with a grind shift by the 4th line, together with some nice work alongside the offensive boards by Jaret Anderson-Dolan, after which the Jets’ high line adopted up with a press of their very own. Schenn despatched a stretch go from his blueline to a streaking Alex Iafallo, just for the puck to deflect off the winger’s stick and hit him within the face. The veteran didn’t let it sluggish him down, as he corralled the puck earlier than organising Mark Scheifele for a 1 timer that opened up the scoring. WPG 1-0. With 7 minutes to play within the opening interval, Vegas pushed again a bit however Winnipeg was largely in a position to preserve them to the perimeter, however Nikolaj Ehlers did have to dam a shot that ended up sending him limping to the bench. Because the interval neared its conclusion, captain Adam Lowry gained a defensive zone face-off and that allowed the Jets to interrupt out of their very own finish. After the large man carried the puck into the Knights’ finish, he wrapped the puck alongside the boards to work its method to the left level, organising a shot from Logan Stanley. Each Nino Niederreiter & Lowry had been battling in entrance of the Vegas’ goalie, permitting the captain to bang house his fifteenth purpose of the marketing campaign. WPG 2-0.
Winnipeg began the 2nd off extraordinarily effectively, not permitting a shot in opposition to within the first 6 minutes as they made issues troublesome for Vegas by clogging up the impartial zone. The Knights are too good to put down for the remainder of the sport and ultimately they bought some high quality appears to be like on the Jets’ protection. Luckily, performs like Schenn sprawling out to dam a cross go on a VEG 3 on 2 helped preserve them off the scoreboard. The True Northers bought their first powerplay of the match when Scheifele took a high-stick, however the high unit couldn’t add to their lead regardless of a few photographs on web. Luckily, the 2nd unit took the direct method with their restricted time and so they quickly arrange defenseman Miller for 3 straight photographs. Every try bought that rather more harmful and Winnipeg prolonged the lead when a 96 MPH 1 timer blast from the excessive slot discovered twine. WPG 3-0. I’m solely guessing, but it surely was round this time that Vegas realized that the LA Kings picked up a win already and their lead on the Pacific was now all the way down to solely 3 factors. Regardless, the Knights flicked the change and instantly began to create high quality appears to be like on Comrie. The anticipating a newborn-at-anytime goaltender was as much as the problem although, making a couple of top-notch stops to maintain his shutout in tact by means of 2 frames.
Winnipeg just about gave up on offense within the third interval, specializing in enjoying responsibly and holding Vegas’ scoring probabilities to a minimal. After all, this resulted within the Knights getting extra good scoring alternatives, together with a couple of robberies of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, & Tanner Pearson. Different occasions, it was Jets’ defenders like Josh Morrissey or Dylan Samberg making the large play to finish a menace. Regardless of laying again on the gasoline, the True Northers didn’t cease enjoying protection and their depth & efforts pissed off the house workforce to no finish on Thursday evening. Vegas gambled by pulling the goalie with 5 minutes to play, leading to some stable offensive stress for a couple of shifts. Ultimately although, Winnipeg was in a position to create a turnover that noticed younger Perfetti seal the sport along with his third purpose within the final 3 video games. WPG 4-0.
*****
FINAL SCORE: WINNIPEG JETS 4 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 0
FINAL STATS
Pictures: 26-22 VEG / Hits: 29-24 WPG / Face-Offs: 55.4% VEG / x Objectives: 2.89 WPG – 2.42 VEG /
MoneyPuck’s Should Win: 56.0% WPG / Excessive-Medium Hazard Scoring Possibilities: 8 TO 8 TIE
*****
SCORING SUMMARY from ESPN
*****
SHOT CHART from MoneyPuck
*****
ADVANCED SKATER STATS from MoneyPuck
*****
GOALIE STATS from ESPN & MoneyPuck
*****
If you want to dive deeper into the sport’s stats, comply with the hyperlinks under to the sport pages:
MoneyPuck: Winnipeg Jets vs. Vegas Golden Knights – Thursday April 3 2025 – MoneyPuck.com
NaturalStatTrick: Winnipeg Jets @ Vegas Golden Knights, 2025-04-03
*****
BOJA’s Observations:
- A really satisfying recreation to look at. A variety of Winnipeg Jets gamers carried out very effectively final evening, however because of time constraints, I’ll save my reward for less than tender Eric Comrie. Put in a tricky spot in opposition to an excellent workforce and he stopped all 26 photographs that got here his means for his 2nd shutout of the season and a +2.42 Objectives Saved Above Anticipated score. All whereas having to take care of worries about his spouse and when she is going to go into labour. Very spectacular capability to focus, Coms.
The Winnipeg Jets restored their 4 level lead on the Dallas Stars with the large win and now the magic quantity is down to five.5 with 6 video games to play. Each squads are again in motion on Saturday, so the chase goes on. Benefit from the heat fuzzies that include an ideal efficiency by our Jets. I could also be flawed, however this model appears to be extra resilient than previous seasons and have risen to the event in loads of large matches in 2024-25.
UP NEXT: Winnipeg Jets @ Utah Hockey Membership – Saturday, April fifth @ 6:00 pm CST
