John Woods / The Canadian Press via AP
Vegas Golden Knights’ Noah Hanifin (15), Pavel Dorofeyev, Nicolas Hague (14) and Anthony Mantha celebrate Dorofeyev’s goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the first period in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
Published Thursday, March 28, 2024 | 8:09 p.m.
Updated Thursday, March 28, 2024 | 9:32 p.m.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Ivan Barbashev broke a late tie and added an empty-netter, Logan Thompson made 39 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Thursday night.
Barbashev made it 2-1 with a high backhander past Connor Hellebuyck with 5:29 left, then scored into the empty net with 1:45 remaining.
“At the end of the day, those types of wins mean a little bit more,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re a playoff team. It’s a team we’re starting to develop a mutual hatred for. It was physical and those bring the best out of us, I think, those types of games.”
Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring late in the first period, and Jack Eichel also had an empty-net goal. Defending champion Vegas improved to 40-25-8, going 7-3-1 in its last 11 and 2-0-1 on a four-game trip.
Sean Monahan tied it for Winnipeg early in the second, and Hellebuyck made 23 saves.
The intensity kicked in early when towering Jets defenseman Logan Stanley traded punches with mismatched Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar.
“That all started from the first shift out there,” Barbashev said. “Really physical game and it just felt like a playoff game, to be honest.”
