Jets fall in Game 2, series heads back to Winnipeg tied at one

The Winnipeg Jets expected a strong push back from the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Two, and that's exactly what happened.
Even still, the Jets held a lead through 20 minutes, and were tied through 40, but two Vegas goals - from Chandler Stephenson and two from captain Mark Stone - gave the Golden Knights a lead the Jets couldn't come back from, resulting in a 5-2 final.
"They were the better team tonight. They deserved to win that game, there is no question," said head coach Rick Bowness. "Did we make it too easy on them? Yeah. We did. That's what's the most disappointing thing. The execution and giving up the goals we gave up, the way we gave them up, that's disappointing."
Adam Lowry and Kevin Stenlund had the goals for the Jets, who will head back to Winnipeg with one goal accomplished - a split at T-Mobile Arena.

After winning Game One, that goal might have shifted to trying to earn two wins in Vegas, but nonetheless, the Jets faced exactly the type of Vegas team they were expecting.
"Our execution with the puck wasn't very good," said Bowness. "We got on the wrong side of them and let them play a lot faster than we want them to play. And we looked slow because of the execution."
The start of the game was everything the Jets could've hoped for, a continuation from the momentum built in Game One.
Connor Hellebuyck's highlight reel glove save off a Chandler Stephenson one-timer on Vegas' power play kept the game scoreless early in the first, and the Jets responded on their first power play chance to grab a 1-0 lead. Off a face-off win to the right of Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit, Nate Schmidt got the puck back to Neal Pionk at the blue line, and Pionk's wrister was deflected by Adam Lowry with 9:18 off the clock. It was Lowry's third goal of the series, and second straight on the power play.
"I think my goal is a little more timely, this one, than the last few minutes of last game," said Lowry. "Obviously, we knew they were going to play better than they did the first four periods."

The Jets outshot Vegas 17-8 in the opening 20 minutes, and had some great chances to extend that lead, but Brossoit kept a partial breakaway chance from Kyle Connor - among other great looks - out of the net, preventing the Jets from getting a multi-goal lead like on Tuesday.
"It easily could have been a few for us in that first period," said Mark Scheifele. "That's the way hockey goes and that's what makes playoffs so fun. We get another go at it come Saturday."
Vegas took advantage of a bouncing puck in the slot nearly six minutes into the second to tie the game. There were six bodies in the slot all trying to corral the loose puck, but ultimately it was William Karlsson - who scored Vegas' lone goal in Tuesday's series opener - that found it and snapped home his second of the series to make it 1-1.
"I think it got their fans back in it," said Lowry. "I think we controlled the first, they controlled the second and a couple bounces here or there. It was a tight game."
Just past the midway mark of the second, Vegas took their first lead of the series, with jack Eichel deflecting an Alex Pietrangelo blast from the point past Hellebuyck.
But the Jets got back on even terms before the end of the second, with Kevin Stenlund's deft deflection of a perfect backhand pass from Saku Maenalanen off the rush. Maenalanen, rushing up the right wing, sent a perfect backhand saucer into the middle of the ice and Stenlund's backhand tip went over the left shoulder of Brossoit with 3:59 remaining in the second.
"To go into the intermission 2-2 I think, as a road team, we're in a good spot, especially since they did have the momentum, they were sustaining pressure," said Lowry. "Give them some credit but our execution could have been better. I don't think we played poorly by any means. It's two really good hockey teams."

The seesaw battle continued into the third, with Vegas grabbing a 3-2 lead 5:37 in. Hellebuyck made the initial stop off Pietrangelo's shot, but Chandler Stephenson was right there to bang home the rebound for his sixth career playoff goal.
Mark Stone made it 4-2 Vegas with 6:59 left in regulation, as Mark Stone finished off a rush chance, with Stephenson finding the Golden Knights captain just past the outstretched left pad of Hellebuyck. Stone added his second of the night with 2:30 to go to round out the scoring.
Of the 39 shots Vegas had in the game, 31 came in the final 40 minutes.
"They were on us, they were above us," said Scheifele. "Their D were making some good reads and sometimes you just need to make a few more plays, get it out when we need to."
Now the series, tied at one, shifts back to Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. When the Jets last made the playoffs in 2021, there were no fans to witness two overtime wins over the Edmonton Oilers to sweep that series.
But on Saturday, the whiteout will be at full volume for the first time since 2019.
"Canada Life Centre is going to be rocking," said Lowry. "It's a tough building to play in and we haven't had fans there for a few years, so we're really excited."