Connor Hellebuyck used the word “luck.” Adam Lowry chose “bounces.” Blake Wheeler said the Jets would have won Game 4 “nine out of ten times,” and Tyler Myers believes his team has been better of the two “for the last five periods.”
The narrative floating around the series has been that the Jets have had control but through a combination of Marc-Andre Fleury’s domination and a touch of luck the Golden Knights are one win away from punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.
Are you having a lucky series? -SinBin.vegas
Are you serious? What do you mean luck? I think we’re playing pretty well. Winnipeg is playing well too. I wouldn’t say we are lucky. We are playing good hockey, we wouldn’t be here if we weren’t a good hockey team. Maybe we’ve had a couple puck luck goals but there’s some luck that’s gone against us too in this series. No, I think we are playing good hockey. -Gerard Gallant
The Jets have the advantage in shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances, high danger scoring chances, and expected goals, yet they find themselves down 12-9 in the only stat that matters and 3-1 on the big scoreboard that determines who wins the Western Conference.
Nothing this man is doing is this series has been lucky either. (Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)
Winnipeg can call it whatever they like, but the fact of the matter is they haven’t been the better team in this series to this point. The games have been tied for 25:39 in the series, and the Golden Knights have scored the tiebreaking goal five of the six times.
The Golden Knights are forcing the Jets into mistakes and then capitalizing on them. It’s what they’ve done all year, and for whatever reason, opposing teams, media, and fans can’t seem to wrap their head around it.
Nonetheless, no matter what anyone thinks, if the any of the next three games go like the previous three, the Jets (like the Sharks and Kings) will leave the series like most leave the fine magic shows of Las Vegas wondering, how in the world are they doing this?
And just like the people who pay hundreds of dollars every night to be amazed by con artists who are good at misdirection, they’ll head home none the wiser and the show on the Vegas Strip will go on. Oh, and none of it has to do with luck.
Jason
Good article Ken. It’s ridiculous that this narrative continues (along with the “NHL expansion rules were designed to get the Knights to the Final” BS).
Nelson Medeiros
Lol vegas was the first expansion team given the chance to basically guarantee some quality players by holding the expansion draft the way it was. Gary Bettman himself said by having the expansion lotrery draft it will give vegas a chance at compiling a team that should be able to compete right from the start. Even though i am a die hard Jets fan lets be real. Yes the knights played better hockey overall obviously seeing they won. But to say they are better then the jets and nashville is silly. No one expected them to succeed at any level so realistically they have had zero pressure to perform. Every win was a shock for the experts who report on hockey. Vegas is playing like there is no tomorrow cause frankly jalf the team may not even be there next year. A team full of unsigned guys who have a point to prove to their former teams and no pressure to succeed can go far cause the expectations are zero. I aplaud how they were able to make my jets look honestly silly but i feel the fanbase and vegas media should pump the brakes a little. Its fine to be proud of your team but the arrogance that is coming from fans and local media is pretty bush league. If Fleury was still injured i am fairly confident this conversation wouldnt happen. Without him honestly i think vegas may have never left round 1. But like i said the better team won regardless and lets see what happens next season.
Vgk4life
They outplayed them, outscored them, and now its apparent, Out Classed them.
Good bye Winnipeg. You guys won your first playoff game in 25 years at the start of the playoffs this season, meanwhile back in Las Vegas……SAY WHAT?!?! LOL!
A.J.
What a ridiculous narrative. I’m glad to see Nelson being “very confident” that the Knights would be less successful if it wasn’t for our starting goalie. Well, I guess I’m pretty confident that Winnipeg wouldn’t be as successful without Hellebuyck. Wow, what a limb I’ve gone out on. Of course a team without their top goalie would be less successful Nelson. If anyone understands this, it should be Winnipeg fans. The Jets have drastically underachieved with their talent the last few years because their goaltending situation was a mess. Now that they have reliable goaltending they are a legitimate
contender. And what I find “silly” is a fan of a team that lost 6 of 8 games to another team being unable to accept that the opposition is in fact entirely better. To repeat, the Knights have a .750 win percentage over the Jets over an 8 game span. That’s not an accident. And if you’d like to bring up the goalie situation again Nelson, if you remove Fleury, the Knights were 1-1 against the Jets…….with our 4th goalie. If the Jet’s were moving on, you would not be “pumping the brakes” nor would you be expected to. Telling other fans how to celebrate doesn’t look good on anyone.
Bent Hermit
I’ve read a lot of the articles from the Canadian media that’s making accuses for the reasons the Jets are losing the series. The comments from the Jets fans have been bashing the media and players for making lame excuses. It seems a lot of them feel VGK is a good team and that the media is not helping the Jets by making excuses for the Jets.
Brian
Holy Cow to Turk give you the laser eye…..!! And who really cares if it is luck, or it isn’t. I think it’s GREAT the Jets need to talk about it. Obviously it’s deep between their ears. Good. Let them be thinking about something other than what’s important—winning. Period. Nothing else matters, right.
GO KNIGHTS GO
#CUPIN1
Scott
My favorite “lucky” VGK bounce clanged off Helley’s glove on Bellemare’s routine blue line wrister . Second fave came when Bellemare got the rebound and passed to Nosek, who luckily bounced it off the inside of Connor’s pad when he when he was too slow to close the 5 hole.
Dan Foley
Good teams create – call it luck, call it favorable bounces, call it whatever – bottom line VGK is a good team that rolls 4 lines and they are proving it. I don’t want to hear about refs or luck those are BS excuses
John Reger
Ben Hogan said it best: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”
Mzmayhem
Actually. Not very impressed by most fans backing the Jets. The media is as expect..crap. It’s been so bad, that one fan actually apologized to me for making a bad comment of 1oct because his team lost
P.S
He was not the only one of their fans who did this. Quite frankly, I believe in hockey karma and they have been getting a mouth full. Their players appear to be hallucinating on what is happening in the games and their hateful fans and their actions and comments have cost them plenty. I say this with being fully involved in our entire season,.Kings and Sharks fans had way more class. Jets fans booing during the anthem..meanwhile Carnell while singing the Canadian anthem stops singing to allow them to honor True North. Hockey karma..dirty doesnt pay. They have deserved every loss in my opinion. They clean it up, odds against them yea, they can still have a shot. Not sure they understand that though.
Scott
Its all water under the bridge. You have pride in your team as a player and as a fan, and no one is ok with losing, especially this deep in the playoffs.
Tomorrow, it doesnt matter anymore. The Knights will focus on their next game, the Jets will be reserving tee times.
Vgk4life
Maybe the Jets should revisit their lack of scoring when on even strength? Maybe they could consider themselves lucky with some of the calls that went their way resulting in powerplay goals? Still it wasn’t enough, sour grapes to the Jets since they didn’t couldn’t refused to see what the rest did. Congrats to our Knights, you guys are in the record books.