FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Jets - Game 3 - 2023

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Jets – Game 3 – 2023

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (2-1) vs Winnipeg Jets (1-2)

  Michael Amadio scores the game-winning goal for Vegas as the Golden Knights top the Jets in double overtime, 5-4, and take the lead in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It is game 3 of the Golden Knights vs Jets series. 

The atmosphere in Winnipeg was electric, in a complete “whiteout” color crowd, the Jets’ faithful came ready to cheer for their team hosting a playoff game. But the Vegas Golden Knights played spoiler, defeating the Jets 5-4 in double overtime in game three of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canada Life Centre. 

Michael Amadio scored the overtime goal within the first few minutes to give the Golden Knights the win and also take a 2-1 lead in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It is something that I will remember forever for sure,” said Amadio, who scored his first playoff goal in his fourth career postseason game. “I kind of didn’t even see it go in. I just kind of put it on net, and then I heard all the guys on the ice start screaming, and that was when I knew.”

Dylan Samberg’s clearing attempt for Winnipeg from the back boards deflected off Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev’s skate to Amadio for a one-timer that went into the top right corner – going between Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck’s head and glove.

The Winnipeg faithful fans were stunned by the outcome of the game.

“You get in those situations, and the puck takes a bounce off a skate or a stick, and it goes to them. That’s usually how overtime games are ended,” Bowness said. “I talked to him right away. He’s a big part of why we’re here. We’ll keep playing him.”

The Golden Knights thought they had the game in their hands in regulation, but Adam Lowry tied the game 4-4 with 21 seconds left, beating Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit with a rebound to cap a three-goal, third-period comeback.

“Give them credit, they had a good push in the third,” Vegas forward Jack Eichel said. “But coming in after the third before the first overtime, we had a lot of confidence in the room.” Nino Niederreiter scored at 2:04 of the third, and Mark Scheifele connected on a power play with 5:52 left to cut it to 4-3.

Eichel had two power-play goals and added an assist. Chandler Stephenson scored a goal and an assist, and Keegan Kolesar also scored. Laurent Brossoit finished the night with 30 saves.

“It’s hard to win hockey games in the playoffs, so we’ll take them however we can get them,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. “We want to close that game out for sure, right? It’s 4-1 going into the third, we want to close that game out, but they played five [on] defense all night. … We rolled four lines, we rolled three [defensive] pairs, and ultimately found a way.”

Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, and Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 43 shots. Winnipeg All-Star defenseman Josh Morrisey left the game four minutes into the first period with a lower-body injury. Morrissey collided knee-on-knee with Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud.

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

The Golden Knights controlled the tempo of the game, commanding a 4-1 lead through the first two periods.  

The start of periods 2 and 3 in the Golden Knights vs Jets series.

With the Golden Knights controlling the game, it seemed that game three was easily in the hands of Vegas. But the third period proved otherwise.

The Jets scored three straight unanswered goals in the third period to tie the game 4-4.

“That was a [heck] of a hockey game,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “The crowd was fantastic. The guys laid it all out there on the line tonight. They played their hearts out. Very proud of the way we played. We’re down early, we get that, we fought back. We’re down three going into the third, and we kept fighting. There is no quit in this group.”

Despite the comeback from the Jets in the third period, the Golden Knights remained resilient.

“Give them credit, they had a good push in the third,” Eichel said. “But coming in after the third before the first overtime, [we had] a lot of confidence in the room. We still felt confidence about ourselves.”

The turning point of the game happened late in the third period when Adam Lowry tied the game 4-4 after knocking in a rebound during a 6-on-5 with 22 seconds left.

“To kind of enter the third where we were at and get the building rocking and have a chance to win in overtime, it’s a pretty big high emotionally,” Lowry said. “It was nice to get the building back and tie the game for the guys. It’s too bad we couldn’t finish.”

The Golden Knights remained calm even after the first overtime. Securing the win to a take 2-1 series lead was big for Vegas, especially on the road. The Golden Knights have a golden opportunity to take a 3-1 lead in game four on Monday.

The final score in game 3 of the Golden Knights vs Jets series was 5-4, Vegas.

On Monday, the Golden Knights will play against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canada Life Centre. The puck drops at 6:30 PM. The game can be seen on AT&T SportsNet (channel 313 on Cox Cable) and ESPN (channel seven on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.