William Carrier takes part in Golden Knights’ morning skate
Series at a glance
Jets lead 1-0
Game 1 — Jets 5, Golden Knights 1
Game 2 — 7 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Arena
Game 3 — 1 p.m. Saturday at Canada Life Centre
Game 4 — 6:30 p.m. Monday at Canada Life Centre
Game 5* — TBD Thursday, April 27, at T-Mobile Arena
Game 6* — TBD Saturday, April 29, at Canada Life Centre
Game 7* — TBD Monday, May 1, at T-Mobile Arena
RJ’s three stars
3. Jets right wing Blake Wheeler — Wheeler got in the passing lane to deflect a puck in the neutral zone and then got back into the defensive zone to control it before spinning and making a great pass to spring Pierre-Luc Dubois for the Jets’ second goal. Wheeler then found space and gave the Jets a 3-1 lead with a backhand goal early in the third before adding his second assist on Adam Lowry’s goal in the final minute.
2. Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck — Even though he wasn’t too busy, Hellebuyck did everything asked of him. He made 16 saves, including a few key stops late in the second period when the Knights made a big push.
1. Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois — The former first-round pick helped open the scoring early in the second period when he got to the corner and put a pass right on the stick of Kyle Connor in the slot. Dubois extended the lead a minute later when he got behind the defense and blasted a shot past Laurent Brossoit.
Key play
Wheeler’s goal 3:53 into the third period.
The Knights had cut the lead in half and entered the final 20 minutes with plenty of momentum before Wheeler corralled the puck off a rebound and maneuvered to the slot before whipping a backhand right past Brossoit and into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead.
Key stat
75 — According to team officials, it took “at least” 75 stitches to seal a cut above the left eye of Winnipeg forward Morgan Barron after he took a skate to the face in the middle of a scrum in front of the Knights’ net in the first period. Barron was back on the ice for the second period wearing a full face mask.
Notable
Left wing William Carrier participated in the Knights’ morning skate Tuesday in a no-contact jersey.
Carrier, who was tied for the fifth-most goals on the team with 16, hasn’t played since March 3 because of a lower-body injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy said the initial news on Carrier “wasn’t great” but that he has progressed well.
That puts the Knights near full health. The only NHL players who have played a game for the team this season and remain unavailable are Carrier and goaltender Logan Thompson, who has appeared once since Feb. 9 because of lower-body injuries.
“We haven’t had that very often,” Cassidy said. “You’re going way back to the start of the year, and I thought our team was very good in those situations when we had everyone at our disposal.”
Knights quotable
“It’s playoff hockey. You need an intensity level that was greater than the one we had. We got to it eventually where we started to play a better hockey game in the second period,” — Coach Bruce Cassidy
Jets quotable
“It looked like he got attacked by a shark. It’s a scary thing. We were all so worried about whether the puck would cross the line, and all of a sudden we see a trail of blood from the crease to the bench and you don’t know what happened. To sit on the table and get stitched up and miss basically an hour and come back speaks volumes to his heart,” Center Adam Lowry, on Barron
Adam Hill Review-Journal