If the Winnipeg Jets are going to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’re going to have to overcome some serious odds.
The Jets dropped a 4-2 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night in Winnipeg to fall behind 3-1 in their best-of-seven series and lost another key player in the process.
The first glorious chance of the game belonged to Winnipeg when Mark Scheifele got in alone on Laurent Brossoit but after making a couple moves, Scheifele was denied by the pad of the Vegas netminder before tripping over Brossoit and tumbling awkwardly into the boards.
Scheifele stayed in the game temporarily, but during a power play a few minutes later, Scheifele attempted a one-timer and got very little on it, immediately grimacing and doubling over in pain. He skated right to the Jets bench and bolted down the hallway into the locker room, not to return to the game.
While Scheifele was getting looked at in the locker room, his teammates picked up the slack and opened the scoring on that power play. Blake Wheeler ripped a shot from the faceoff dot past Brossoit to open the scoring at the 5:53 mark.
The lead lasted exactly four minutes. Oakbank’s Brett Howden attempted a shot in transition that was blocked but he got to the loose puck first and beat Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game.
The game remained tied after one with Vegas holding a 10-6 edge in shots on goal through 20 minutes.
Early in the second, the Golden Knights got their first power play opportunity of the game but thanks to several good saves from Hellebuyck, the Jets were able to kill it off.
But later in the period, Pierre-Luc Dubois was called for tripping Jack Eichel, and just as the power play expired, and after the Jets failed to clear the puck, William Karlsson redirected a Jonathan Marchessault shot with his skate, sending it through the legs of Hellebuyck to make it 2-1 at the 13:32 mark.
The uphill climb got even steeper for the Jets just 47 seconds later when Ivan Barbashev tipped a Shea Theodore shot over the glove of Hellebuyck to make it 3-1.
Winnipeg had a great chance to cut the lead in half just moments later when a point shot bounced off the end boards behind Brossoit and landed on the stick of Brenden Dillon at the side of the net but he was robbed by Brossoit.
Vegas carried a 21-16 edge in shots on goal along with their 3-1 lead on the scoreboard into the third, looking to avoid collapsing like they did on Saturday.
But early in the third, Winnipeg earned their second power play of the game and once again they cashed in, scoring one of the most bizarre goals you’ll ever see.
Dubois got a stick on a puck at the side of the net that Brossoit stopped, sending it fluttering into the air. A Vegas stick then knocked it high above everyone and as the puck fell back to the ice, Alex Pietrangelo tried it vain to glove it down as it hit the back of Brossoit and landed in the net to make it a one-goal game just 2:56 into the period.
That goal brought the sold-out crowd to life as they began taunting Brossoit, chanting his last name as well as ‘you’re a backup.’
As the clock ticked down, Howden had a golden opportunity to put the game on ice when Mark Stone made a great play to set him up with an open net but he slid it wide and looked to the sky in disbelief.
The Jets got Hellebuyck to the bench with just over a minute left but Vegas was able to take the puck away and Howden made amends when he buried the puck into the empty net to seal the win with 16.4 seconds left.
Hellebuyck gets charged with the loss, allowing three goals on 29 shots while Brossoit picks up his third straight win, making 24 saves.
Only 31 teams have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series in NHL history out of 330 such circumstances, and of those 31 comebacks, only 13 were made by the lower seed in the series.
Either the comeback will begin or the season will end Thursday night in Vegas when the puck drops on Game 5 a little after 9 p.m. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 6:30 p.m.