The Vegas Golden Knights advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 in Game 5. Here’s what you need to know:
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Stone took a few periods to get up to speed after returning from a three-month layoff following back surgery, but once he did he was unstoppable for the Golden Knights. He led the team with eight points over the five games, including a goal and two primary assists to bury the Jets early in Game 5. Vegas is a different team when Stone is on the ice, and he already appears to be in peak form. — Granger
Laurent Brossoit was strong all series for the Golden Knights in net, and capped it off with a solid performance in Thursday’s closeout game. Once a backup behind Connor Hellebuyck for three seasons, this is the 30-year-old’s first opportunity to start in the playoffs and he’s taking advantage behind a strong Vegas defense. Brossoit will be tested more as the playoffs advance, but to this point, he’s been good enough for the Golden Knights to win every night. — Granger
As mentioned above, the Golden Knights are a different team with Stone. It was against a severely-injured Jets’ squad, but this is the best Vegas has looked in a long time. The overall team defense has been a strength all season and was the driving force behind earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
The question was would the Golden Knights have the big guns to compete with the league’s best? With Stone playing how he has, Jack Eichel centering the top line, and Stephenson back in All-Star form, there are plenty of reasons to believe they do. — Granger
We drew up the keys to a Winnipeg Jets upset win. None of them came true. Brossoit outplayed Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele got hurt, Nikolaj Ehlers played in just one game, and the Jets never found a way to pierce through the Golden Knights’ zone defense or slow down their transition attack.
Winnipeg gave the puck up in its own zone on Vegas’ first two goals in Game 5 and its top players were less visible than Vegas’ depth players. Winnipeg needed a healthy lineup, tremendous goaltending, and more effort in the middle of the ice to stand a chance in seven games. It got none of those things. — Ates
The Jets’ five-game loss to Vegas mirrors the 2018 Western Conference final, wherein Winnipeg also won Game 1 and then lost four straight. These two series bookend an era of Jets hockey that was meant to see the franchise rise, win multiple playoff rounds and compete for a Stanley Cup.
The Jets made an aggressive bet on Hellebuyck and Blake Wheeler’s contract extensions after that 2018 series loss, setting up a window to win before they, along with Mark Scheifele became unrestricted free agents in 2024. That window has slammed shut with this loss and Winnipeg has only one playoff series win to show for it — its 2021 first-round sweep of Edmonton. They’ve otherwise lost in the first round twice (2019, 2023) and failed to qualify for the playoffs twice (2020, 2022.) Extenuating circumstances abound but the Jets have lost their championship bet on their Wheeler/Scheifele core. — Ates
Winnipeg enters the off-season with several problems to solve, all centered around the theme of “What comes next?” Wheeler, Scheifele, Hellebuyck, Nino Niederreiter, Dylan DeMelo, and Brenden Dillon are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in 2024 and Pierre-Luc Dubois, whose agent has publicly discussed a desire to play in Montreal, could join them with a one-year deal. Winnipeg probably can’t compete in any fashion without Hellebuyck in the fold so he’s the most important domino, whether an extension can be had or a trade must be made.
But Scheifele and Dubois are Winnipeg’s No. 1 and No. 2 centers — to lose both would leave a massive hole down the middle of Winnipeg’s lineup. Winnipeg must either find a way to sign their most important players long-term or make the high-impact, high-stakes trades that see a ton of talent go out the door. Kevin Cheveldayoff has had some success when painted into the corner in the past but, with so many players’ futures in question and ownership not interested in a rebuild, this is a test beyond everything that came before it. Is he the man for the job? I believe the Jets organization believes that he is. — Ates
Jets coach Rick Bowness on his thoughts on losing the series:
“Overall thoughts? I’m so disappointed right now and disgusted. Those are my thoughts.”
As to why Bowness was disgusted:
“No pushback. But it’s the same crap we saw in February. It was. As soon as we were challenging for first place and teams were coming after us, we had no pushback. This series, we had no pushback. Their better players were so much better than ours, it’s not even close.”
Stone scored 42 seconds into the second period, marking his fifth playoff goal within the opening minute of any period with the Golden Knights. No Vegas player has more than one.
The 2023 NHL postseason is alive and well.
Fill out your full bracket for the Western and Eastern Conference Playoffs ⤵️https://t.co/E8MXPu4GJE pic.twitter.com/pfRuj6QZqG
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) April 17, 2023
(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
This content was originally published here.