FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Jets - Game 2 - 2023

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Jets – Game 2 – 2023

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (1-1) vs Winnipeg Jets (1-1)

 

The Golden Knights tie the series in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. 

It was game 2 of the Golden Knights vs Jets series. 

Bouncing back after tough losses has always been the story for the Vegas Golden Knights. The same scenario continued in game two as Vegas tied the series 1-1 in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets at T-Mobile Arena.

Team captain Mark Stone who returned to the lineup in game one after back surgery, finished game 2 with three points (2 goals and assists) and played a big part in the Golden Knights’ victory.

“You can get energized by your line by a point or a goal, so it’s good to get that one out of the way,” said Stone, the Vegas captain. “I don’t want to miss this. I want to be a part of it. I’ve said since I got traded here, ‘This is the team I want to play for, [the] team I want to win with, go to war with.’ So, to be back, there means the world to me.”

Mark Stone hadn’t scored since January 5th. Stone had missed the final 39 games of the regular season with a back injury.

“I don’t want to miss this,” Stone said. “When I got traded (from Ottawa in 2019), this is the team I want to play for, the team I want to win with, the team I want to go to war with. So just to be back in here means the world to me.”

The Golden Knights also had help from Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson, who each had a goal and an assist, Jack Eichel scored his first career playoff goal, and Phil Kessel and Alex Pietrangelo each had two assists. Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit finished the night with 31 saves.

With the series now tied 1-1, games three and four shift up North to Winnipeg at the Canada Life Centre.

“They were the better team tonight,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “They deserved to win that game; there’s no question. Did we make it too easy on them? Yeah, we did. That’s the most disappointing thing is the execution and then the goals that we gave up the way we gave them up. That’s disappointing, but we’ll fix it. We’ll get ready for Saturday.”

Adam Lowry and Kevin Stenlund each scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebyuck finished the night with 34 saves.

End of the first period in the Golden Knights vs Jets series.

The Jets dominated the first period, outshooting the Golden Knights 17-8, and the game even got physical with three fights that equaled 18 minutes of penalties. 

Start of the second and third periods in the Golden Knights vs Jets series.

The Jets had a 1-0 lead going into the second period, but the tempo started to change with two goals from Vegas.

“In the first period, we weren’t on our game at all. Some of our veteran guys pulled us into the fight,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We recognized after the first that we had to clean up some things to be better. We did. We moved some pieces around. You never know how that will impact certain lines, but we realized that it was time to get to our game. You don’t want to dig yourself too deep of a hole. You’ll have some ups and downs. Give the players credit for that. It was time to get to our game.”

Karlsson tied the game 1-1 after firing a wrist shot from the slot to get his second goal of the postseason.

“I want to contribute and score again. It’s always fun and a great feeling,’ Karlsson said. “I tried to get us on the board, give us energy to the players and the crowd.”

Jack Eichel scored his first of the series after a redirected shot from Alex Pietrangelo shot a 2-1 lead.

“It felt great,” Eichel said of scoring his first playoff goal. “It was a long time coming. It’s good to contribute. It’s a good win by our group. We stuck with it. We won a third period. We won a game.”

The game was once again tied after Kevin Stenlund scored to make the score 2-2, but in the third period, the Golden Knights reemerged after scoring three goals to close out the game.

After a goal from Stephenson in the first five minutes of the third period, Mark Stone scored the last two goals, the first being a tip-in shot and the last wrist shot from the high slot for a 5-2 win.

“It’s great to see him have a great game,” Karlsson said. “He was huge from us tonight. That’s what we need.”

The final score in game 2 of the Golden Knights vs Jets series was 5-2, Vegas.

On Saturday, the Golden Knights will play against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canada Life Centre. The puck drops at 1:00 PM. The game can be seen on AT&T SportsNet (channel 313 on Cox Cable) and TBS (channel seven on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.