LAS VEGAS (AP) — Adam Lowry scored two goals and Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists Tuesday night as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-1 in Game 1 of their first-round series..
Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal an assist, Kyle Connor also scored, and Nino Niederreiter had two assists for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves on a night in which the Jets' defense allowed him to have a fairly stress-free game.
William Karlsson scored for the Golden Knights, who suffered their first regulation loss in nine games. It also was the first regulation loss for Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit, who went 7-0-3 in the regular season. He stopped 26 shots.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Vegas entered the game as the top seed in the Western Conference, and the Jets were the last team in the conference to get in the playoffs. But Winnipeg is 6-2 in its past eight games and continued the momentum into Tuesday.
The Jets had 14 shots on goal in the first period, but failed to get anything past Brossoit even with back-to-back power plays at one point. Vegas, which blocked 13 shots, also survived a big scramble in the crease in which Mason Appleton could've poked the puck into the open net, but couldn't get his stick on it.
Teammate Morgan Barron took a skate to his face from Brossoit on the play as the bodies piled up in pursuit of the puck. He went to the locker room and received more than 75 stitches before returning in the second period wearing a full cage on his head.
The Jets broke through with goals from Connor and Dubois 1:02 apart early in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Karlsson put the Knights on the scoreboard with 4:11 left, but Wheeler made it a two-goal lead again 3:53 into the third period.
Lowry scored twice in the final 1:21, one on an empty-netter.
Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who has an upper-body injury, did not play. Ehlers said Saturday he would be ready and on Monday reiterated he felt "very good," though coach Rick Bowness has maintained he was day to day. Ehlers had 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games this season.
This was Knights captain Mark Stone's first game since injuring his back Jan. 12. He underwent surgery Jan. 31 and was cleared to play Monday.