The Vegas Golden Knights weathered a physical match to beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at Canada Life Centre, with the team now holding a 2-0-1 record in the first three games of their four-game Central Division road trip. Anthony Mantha, who has five points in his last four games, gave the Golden Knights the game-winning goal with less than six minutes remaining. Logan Thompson, the Golden Knights’ netminder, made 39 saves out of the 40 shots made by the Winnipeg Jets.
Before the Winnipeg match, the Golden Knights let a game slip away against the Nashville Predators, allowing three third period goals. Despite this, they still secured a point which padded their lead over St. Louis Blues. The Golden Knights also managed to survive a challenging overtime round with the Predators, which resulted in a 5-4 defeat. The match resulted in Nashville extending their points streak to 18 games.
In the Winnipeg game, Golden Knights player Pavel Dorofeyev continued his scoring trend, and William Karlsson continued a habit of setting him up for goals late in the first period. Winnipeg managed to tie the game early in the second period due to several offensive contributions from trade acquisition Sean Monahan. Despite Winnipeg’s physicality and multiple power plays, the Golden Knights persevered with help from Thompson and some missed chances by Winnipeg.
The match did result in some heated exchanges, with fisticuffs breaking out in the first period and later in the third. Golden Knights defenseman Nic Hague was initially given a five-minute major for elbowing Winnipeg forward Vladimir Namestnikov, which was later reduced to a minor penalty, sparking further controversy. Winnipeg outshot the Golden Knights 40-27, although this statistic translates to a closer 25-23 in favor of Winnipeg at even strength.
