2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Golden Knights vs. Jets 1st-round preview

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Monday.
Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference First Round between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets.

(1P) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC2) Winnipeg Jets

Golden Knights:51-22-9, 111 points
Jets:46-33-3, 95 points
Season series: VGK 3-0-0; WPG 0-2-1
Game 1:Tuesday at Vegas (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SNW, TVAS2)
The Vegas Golden Knights are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, arriving in style as the Pacific Division champions and the top seed in the Western Conference.
After reaching the playoffs in their first four seasons, they missed out last season. It did not sit well with the franchise, which had gone to the Stanley Cup Final in its first season, losing to the Washington Capitals.
This season was marked by change. Bruce Cassidy was hired as coach, replacing Peter DeBoer. Max Pacioretty, a high-scoring forward, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in July, and in August, No. 1 goalie
Robin Lehner
was ruled out for the season because of a hip injury.
However, Vegas found a way to return to excellence.
"Proud of the guys. We won all we could win in terms of regular season," Cassidy said after Vegas clinched the top seed with a 3-1 victory at the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. "I know the players want to relax and take a breather. As coaches, you're always looking at the next challenge. It happens to be the Winnipeg Jets. We haven't seen them in a long time in terms of playing them. We want to get to playing that."
The Jets were not assured of a playoff spot until the penultimate game of their season, slipping in as the second wild card from the Western Conference after holding off the hard-charging Nashville Predators.
From Feb. 14 to the end of the season, Winnipeg was 13-14-2 for a .483 points percentage, the second-worst among playoff-bound teams during that span, ahead of only the Tampa Bay Lightning (.467). Vegas was at .768 (19-4-5).
"We battled our adversity," Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck said. "It might have taken us a little bit longer but I think we figured ourselves out. We have the character in the room and now we know what our game is. To come out and show it through this stretch is huge."
Winnipeg was 5-2-0 in its final seven games, outscoring its opposition 26-13.
These teams played in the Western Conference Final in 2018, with Vegas shocking the hockey world with a five-game upset to become the only first-year team to make the championship round in NHL history.
The Golden Knights hope the Jets once again will be part of their path to glory because they believe that the adversity they endured this season, including injuries to many of their key players, has served them well.
"We made big strides from where we ended in the regular season last year," Vegas forward Reilly Smith said. "We always believed in this group. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I don't think this should be understated."

Game breakers

Golden Knights:Jack Eichel led them with 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) in 67 games. The No. 1 center has been battling injuries lately, missing two games because of an upper-body injury before returning for the regular-season finale Thursday. He had one assist and played 17:58 in the victory against Seattle, and declared himself ready for his first postseason appearance in his eight NHL seasons. Eichel at his best is a game-changing forward who makes the Golden Knights a deeper and more dangerous team. With his size (6-foot-2, 207 pounds), he also will present a unique matchup problem for the Jets.
Jets:Winnipeg rests its hat on being sound defensively, so it's no surprise that a defenseman is a game breaker in their system. Josh Morrissey does it all. He was second on the Jets with 76 points (16 goals, 60 assists) in 78 games, behind forward Kyle Connor (80 points), and tied with Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks for second among NHL defensemen, behind Erik Karlsson of the San Jose Sharks (101 points). Morrissey averaged 24:14 of ice time, which led the Jets and was 14th in the NHL. He also was second among Winnipeg defensemen in blocked shots (119) and first in takeaways (36). Put simply, he is a force of nature who makes an impact in all three zones.

Goaltending

Golden Knights: The biggest question mark for Vegas is who will man the crease. They had five players start at least one game during the season. Rookie Logan Thompson was brilliant until injuries sidelined him in the second half of the season, limiting him to 37 games. He's made 10 starts since Jan. 1 and none since March 23. Jonathan Quick, who won the Stanley Cup twice with the Los Angeles Kings, was acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 2 but has been middling (5-2-2, .901 save percentage, 3.13 goals-against average) in 10 games (nine starts). Laurent Brossoit, who battled injuries in the first half of the season, made his NHL season debut Feb. 21 and was 7-0-3 with a 2.17 GAA and .927 save percentage in 11 games (10 starts) to perhaps emerge as the Game 1 starter.
Jets: Winnipeg will go as far as Hellebuyck takes it. Hellebuyck, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2020 as the best goalie in the NHL, is one of the biggest reasons the Jets are in the playoffs. He is a confident goalie who can have long stretches of excellence. He was 37-25-2 with a 2.49 GAA and .920 save percentage in 64 games (all starts). His 37 wins were tied for third in the NHL, and his save percentage was tied for fourth (minimum 20 games). In the 2018 playoffs, Hellebuyck was 9-8 with a 2.36 GAA, .922 save percentage and two shutouts in 17 games. However, he struggled against the Golden Knights this season, allowing seven goals in two losses (0-1-1).

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Numbers to know

Golden Knights: Vegas had 1,494 blocked shots this season, the most in the League and 171 more than the next-closest team in the playoffs, the New York Islanders (1,323). Shot suppression is a key reason the Golden Knights survived their goalie turmoil this season. Defensemen Alec Martinez (244) and Brayden McNabb (198) were the top two shot-blockers in the NHL, but it's a team-wide commitment and their top six defensemen each had at least 86 blocks.
Jets:Winnipeg converted at 19.3 percent on the power play, tied for 22nd in the NHL and second-worst among the 16 playoff teams (New York Islanders, 15.8 percent). Forwards Mark Scheifele (12) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (11) were the only Jets to reach double figures in power-play goals. Fortunately for Winnipeg, Vegas had similar struggles on the power play (20.3 percent) and did not have a player with more than nine power-play goals.

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X-factors

Golden Knights: Mark Stone is Vegas' biggest question mark. The forward has been out since Jan. 12 after having back surgery but is expected back for Game 1 and is a game changer in every area. He is among the best shutdown forwards in the NHL and an offensive threat with 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists) in 43 games this season. He generally has been a solid playoff performer, scoring at least five goals in each of his past four postseasons. Stone's presence in the lineup would be a boon for the Golden Knights.
Jets: Nikolaj Ehlers was injured in the next-to-last regular-season game after being hit by Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild. He missed the finale because of an upper-body injury, but the forward has cleared concussion protocol, according to coach Rick Bowness. Ehlers, who has battled injuries all season, had 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) in 45 games. He had scored 20 or more goals in each of the previous six seasons, and when he is at his best his speed is difficult for even the stronger defensive teams to handle.

Video: ARI@VGK: Stone increases Golden Knights' lead in 3rd

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They said it

"It's important to celebrate things like this. It's a long season. It's a testament to a lot of strong, consistent hockey and commitment over the course of seven months, 82 games. It's a long time. It's important to enjoy it. But we haven't won anything yet." -- Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez
"I know people had written us off there for a while. We just fought through it. Every team that gets into the playoffs at this time of year and you're on the bottom end, you've got to fight through some adversity. You've got to fight through some second-guessing, and that's fine. That's all part of our business. But give our players full marks because they stayed focused on the process of what we had to do game in and game out to get us into the playoffs. So good for them." -- Jets coach Rick Bowness

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Will win if…

Golden Knights: Vegas has to play the defensively responsible, opportunistic game it played all season. It was good enough for three wins against Winnipeg in the regular season and it is good enough to defeat the Jets in a seven-game series. The Golden Knights need to suppress shots, slow the transition game when the Jets have the puck and stay disciplined to avoid having games, and the series, dominated by special teams.
Jets: Hellebuyck has to be the best player in the series. He is more than capable of doing it, and if he does, he can frustrate a Golden Knights team that has trouble scoring, even on the power play. Though both teams want to play a low-scoring series with limited chances, the Jets know their biggest advantage rests with the 2020 Vezina winner. For them to succeed against the West's top seed, he will have to be at his best.

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How they look

Golden Knights projected lineup
Pavel Dorofeyev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault
Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Michael Amadio
Ivan Barbashev -- Chandler Stephenson -- Phil Kessel
Brett Howden -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Ben Hutton -- Nicolas Hague
Laurent Brossoit
Jonathan Quick
Scratched:Paul Cotter, Kaedan Korczak, Brayden Pachal, Teddy Blueger
Injured:Mark Stone (back), William Carrier (lower body), Adin Hill (lower body), Logan Thompson (undisclosed)
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Mark Scheifele
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Blake Wheeler
Nino Niederreiter -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
Morgan Barron -- Kevin Stenlund -- Saku Maenalanen
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Brenden Dillon -- Neal Pionk
Dylan Samberg -- Nate Schmidt
Connor Hellebuyck
David Rittich
Scratched:Kyle Capobianco, Logan Stanley, David Gustafsson, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Karson Kuhlman
Injured:Cole Perfetti (upper body), Sam Gagner (lower body)