Brett Howden scores key goal in Golden Knights’ Game 4 victory

By Adam Hill

Las Vegas Review-Journal

2 years ago

Vegas Golden Knights' Brett Howden (21) scores against Winnipeg Jets' goaltender Connor Hellebu ... — Vegas Golden Knights’ Brett Howden (21) scores against Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) during first-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit (39) makes a save against Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele (55) during first-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets’ Nate Schmidt (88) checks Vegas Golden Knights’ Ivan Barbashev (49) during first-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against Vegas Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith (19) during first-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vegas Golden Knights’ Brett Howden (21) checks Winnipeg Jets’ Brenden Dillon (5) during second-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vegas Golden Knights’ Brett Howden (21) is checked by Winnipeg Jets’ Morgan Barron (36) during second-period Game 4 NHL Stanley Cup first-round hockey playoff action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 24, 2023. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)

Series at a glance

Knights lead 3-1

■ Game 1 — Jets 5, Golden Knights 1

■ Game 2 — Golden Knights 5, Jets 2

■ Game 3 — Golden Knights 5, Jets 4 (2 OT)

■ Game 4 — Golden Knights 4, Jets 2

■ Game 5 — 7 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Arena

■ Game 6* — TBD, Saturday at Canada Life Centre

■ Game 7* — TBD, Monday at T-Mobile Arena

* If necessary

RJ’s three stars

3. Knights defenseman Shea Theodore — He had his first mutipoint game since March 25 and appeared to settle back into his role after missing two weeks with an injury late in the regular season. Theodore had a secondary assist on William Karlsson’s go-ahead goal in the second period and fired a shot on goal less than a minute later that Ivan Barbashev got a piece of on the way to the back of the net.

2. Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit — It wasn’t necessarily the 24 saves that earned Brossoit this recognition, but the quality of a few of them. He gave up an early goal before helping right the ship with some tough stops while the Knights skaters found a response to the surge of energy by Winnipeg. He then protected a two-goal lead in the third period, surrendering just a fluky score when the Knights couldn’t bat a puck out of the air and it found its way through a group of bodies.

1. Knights forward Brett Howden — The 25-year-old former first-round pick was clearly frustrated with a missed opportunity to put the game away in the third period, but he will settle for a two-goal night and key victory. Howden’s first goal tied the game 1-1 midway through the first period. His second goal was an empty-netter to clinch the win.

Key play

Howden’s goal at 9:53 of the first period.

While Winnipeg looked dangerous early and was rewarded with a goal to put it ahead in the Jets’ quest to even the series, Howden found an answer to quiet the raucous crowd.

After his shot in transition was blocked, he teed up the puck and rifled the second try past Connor Hellebuyck before the goalie could reset.

It was big for the Knights to go into the first intermission tied before taking over the game in the second period.

Key stat

0:47 — The amount of time between the goals scored by William Karlsson and Ivan Barbashev for the Knights in the second period.

Karlsson broke a 1-1 tie when he got a skate on a shot by Jonathan Marchessault and redirected it into the net just after a power play had expired at the 13:32 mark.

Ivan Barbashev followed with a goal at 14:19 when he got just enough on a blast from Theodore, who was credited with an assist on each of the two second-period goals.

Scheifele leaves game

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele suffered an upper-body injury early and did not return.

The Jets’ leading goal scorer with 42 tallies in the regular season crashed into the wall behind the net on the end of a missed breakaway attempt after colliding with Brossoit.

Scheifele stayed in the game, but appeared to be in a pain in the area of his shoulder when he tried to load up for a shot moments later.

The Jets were already playing without defenseman Josh Morrissey, the team’s second-leading scorer with 60 assists and 76 points, who suffered a lower-body injury in Game 3 and was ruled out for the rest of the series.

Forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who had 38 points in 45 games during the season, still has not been cleared to return from his upper-body injury, though the team has expressed some optimism it could happen during the series.

Knights quotable

“We definitely don’t want to come back here. It’s a pretty rowdy crowd. They get loud. They get us into it, but we want to close things out.”— Theodore, on the chance to end the series Thursday at T-Mobile Arena to avoid a return trip to Winnipeg for Game 6.

Jets quotable

“The odds of coming back and the history (of being down 3-1) mean nothing to us. The only thing that matters is finding a way to win a game on Thursday night. So you can throw all the history of the league at me and the odds of coming back. It means nothing. Winning a game Thursday is what matters.”— Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.