Stastny, Golden Knights set for Jets in Western Conference Final rematch

WINNIPEG -- Paul Stastny understands the talk about validation and revenge leading up to the first game this season between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV).

The center, in his first season with Vegas, was a member of the Jets last season when they lost to the Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference Final.
"For me, it's weird," Stastny, who signed a three-year contract with the Golden Knights as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, said Monday. "My time in Winnipeg was awesome and my time here has been awesome, and I follow both teams obviously, and I like so many of the guys on both teams.
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"You lose to a team in a playoff series, the next game you play them you want to make a statement out of it. But it's different because we're not in the same division. The rivalry is not (quite the same)."
Stastny had 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 19 regular-season games for the Jets after being traded by the St. Louis Blues for a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and prospect forward Erik Foley on Feb. 26. He had 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 17 playoff games, but one assist in the five-game series loss to Vegas.

Jets forward Patrik Laine, a linemate of Stastny last season, said there is more than revenge at stake.
"We haven't seen them this year so it will be a good matchup," said Laine. "Obviously they kicked our (butt) last year in the playoffs so we want to win tomorrow and just get the two points."
Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said the only motivation for Vegas is a chance to move up in the standings.
"I feel when you win, you maybe don't have that revenge that you want to get," Fleury said. "For us, we've got to look at two big points for the team. They're obviously a talented team and it's going to be a big challenge for our team to get that win."
The Jets (29-14-2) are in first place in the Central Division with 60 points, two more than the second-place Nashville Predators.
Vegas (28-16-4) is third in the Pacific with 60 points, four points behind the first-place Calgary Flames.
"Two of the top teams going at it, both teams playing well," Stastny said. "They've got a lot of good players, a lot of depth, really well coached, and probably one of the reasons why I loved it here.
"It was unreal (in Winnipeg). What was it, three months, four months, but it felt a lot longer. For my family and me, on the ice, off the ice, we had a blast."

The 33-year-old's time in Vegas got off to a rough start. He sustained a lower-body injury in the third game of season and missed the next 30 games.
But since returning on Dec. 14, Stastny has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 15 games and Vegas, which started the season 9-12-1, is 11-2-2 in that stretch.
"Just a consistent guy that plays the game the right way, face-offs, kills penalties, plays power play, does everything for us," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "We missed him for two and a half months. But lately he's been real, real good ... and he's a part of our turnaround after the first 25 games."
Stastny, who has 659 points (226 goals, 433 assists) in 842 NHL games for the Golden Knights, Jets, Blues and Colorado Avalanche, said the fit with the Golden Knights is proving to be a good one.
"I faced a little adversity at first with an injury, but I've come back ... and the team's finally finding a groove," he said. "Everything that we thought would be a good fit for me turned out good."
Gallant said any talk of last season's conference final means nothing to him, "I'm worried about this year's team," he said.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is using what happened last year and the play of Fleury, who is 6-1-0 with a 1.72 goals-against average, a .935 save percentage and one shutout in his past seven games, as motivation.
"Obviously we want another crack at them," Hellebuyck said. "They beat us pretty cleanly in five games and they're pretty hot right now and Fleury is playing phenomenal, as he always does. It's a team to beat right now."