Golden Knights hang on in Game 4, push Jets to brink in West 1st Round

WINNIPEG -- Brett Howden scored twice for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre on Monday.

It was the first Stanley Cup Playoff goals for Howden, who scored six goals in 54 games this season.
"That's pretty special, first-ever playoff goal," Howden said. "Pretty nice of the guys. They saved the puck for me. … Pretty cool."
William Karlsson also scored, and Shea Theodore and Chandler Stephenson each had two assists for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed in the West. Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves.
The Golden Knights have won three in a row to lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 will be in Vegas on Thursday.
"Feels great, especially a big swing game like the fourth game usually is, and just the fashion that we did it in," Brossoit said. "Everyone was playing well tonight. All four lines were going, all 'D' pairings were going. We didn't really give them anything. They're dealing with some injuries, but we've got a veteran group that didn't get complacent, and we took it to them"
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Jets series coverage]
Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist, Neal Pionk had two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for the Jets, who are the second wild card in the West.
Mark Scheifele left early in the first period after
sustaining an upper-body injury
for Winnipeg, which was already playing without defenseman Josh Morrissey (lower body).
"He'll be reevaluated tomorrow," Bowness said.
"Our team played very hard tonight. We adjusted, and we've been through this before early in the year when we had five or six guys out, key guys out. And now we're faced with it again. And the difference now, obviously, is you're in the playoffs and you're playing an excellent hockey club every night. And they are a good hockey club. So are we. We'll find a way. We fought through this before. Are we missing some keys guys? Yes. We'll find a way to win that game on Thursday."
Wheeler gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 5:53 of the first period, scoring blocker side from the top of the right circle on a power play.
"It's unfortunate, obviously, to lose [Scheifele], a guy we really rely on," Wheeler said. "The guys battled extremely hard. We just couldn't get a bounce 5-on-5. … We just couldn't get the extra one when we needed it."
Howden tied it 1-1 at 9:53 of the first. He collected his own rebound after his initial shot was blocked by Pionk and scored glove side from the left hash marks.
"When we say that nothing rattles us, nothing rattles [Brossoit]," Howden said. "He's been great for us."

Karlsson put the Golden Knights ahead 2-1 shortly after a power play expired at 13:32 of the second period when Jonathan Marchessault's slap pass redirected five-hole on Hellebuyck off his right skate.
Ivan Barbashev scored 47 seconds later to push it to 3-1 when he tipped in Theodore's shot from the top of the left circle.
"At the end of the day, no panic, just take care of business," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Play the right way and end up getting the win, that's what we came here for. I think we're the better team, but usually when you watch the game you can get a better feel for it, but I never felt we were in trouble tonight."

Dubois cut it to 3-2 at 2:57 of the third period with a power-play goal. His rebound attempt from in front was saved by Brossoit, but the goalie batted the puck up into the air, and after Alex Pietrangelo couldn't swat it away, the puck landed over Brossoit's right shoulder and into the net.
"That was a weird one," Dubois said. "It got us back within one. When you're down two or three, you can't be thinking about scoring three goals or two goals, you got to be thinking of scoring one at a time, and that gave us an opportunity to get within one."
However, Howden scored into an empty net with 17 seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.
"There's no quit in the guys. There's lots of fight left," Bowness said. "You saw the effort, and they're giving everything they can down there. … Five-on-5, the play is even. They're not out-chancing us, we're not out-chancing them."
NOTES:Howden was playing in his seventh playoff game. … Stephenson has six points (two goals, four assists) during a three-game multipoint streak. … Pionk has seven assists during a four-game point streak, including five in the past two games.