Golden Knights brace for intense atmosphere in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The famous intersection at Portage and Main, where Jets fans congregate for notable games, will remain open to traffic Tuesday night.

It’s too cold to party in the street, anyway.

There won’t be a whiteout, either.

But the electricity inside Bell MTS Place almost certainly will be cranked up when the Golden Knights meet Winnipeg for the first time since the Western Conference Final.

“If you’re them, you want to beat us again and show what they did is validated even more. For us, we want to play our best game,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “More importantly, looking at the schedule and the standings right now, and how well they’ve been playing, they’re coming in here one of the hottest teams in the league. We have to be ready to go and play our best game in order to beat them.”

The Knights and Jets are tied for fourth in the overall NHL standings with 60 points — Winnipeg has played three fewer games — and part of a five-team group that has separated from the pack in the Western Conference.

They both rank in the top 10 in goals for, goals against, goal differential, points percentage … the list goes on.

“It’s a fast, aggressive style and I think that’s why these games against Winnipeg will be fun,” Knights center Paul Stastny said. “Both teams play that similar style where they both attack and they’ve both got a lot of speed and both create a lot of turnovers.”

Stastny offers a unique view point of the matchup, since he played for Winnipeg after being traded from St. Louis in February and was on the other side of the conference final.

The 13-year veteran hinted Winnipeg might have let down after beating Nashville in the semifinals. He also noted the Jets’ unfamiliarity with the Knights worked against Winnipeg.

But in his mind, it was the two games at T-Mobile Arena that swung the series.

“I think both times we were down real quick to start the game and then both times we tied it up, we let (in) a goal the next shift right away,” Stastny said. “Every time we thought we had the momentum, it would just switch right away.”

While Stastny remembered disappointment from his last game at Bell MTS Place, walking into the locker room where they celebrated with the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after a 2-1 victory in Game 5 brought back positive vibes for his current teammates.

“Good memories for sure,” said right wing Ryan Reaves, a Winnipeg native.

“Good times,” center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said.

But it hasn’t been all champagne and parties in Manitoba for the Knights.

Coach Gerard Gallant and Bellemare both cited the opening 7:35 of Game 1 when Winnipeg exploded for three goals en route to a 4-2 victory.

“We got our (butt) whooped,” Bellemare said.

There was also a 7-4 loss on Dec. 1, 2017, when the Knights had a Colin Miller goal overturned in the second period and Winnipeg scored five times in the third to pull away.

Winnipeg is 17-6-4 at home and leads the Western Conference in home victories.

That’s enough to keep the Knights focused on the task at hand and not reminisce about their last visit in May.

“They’re playing really well, and we knocked them out last year, so obviously they want a little vengeance during the regular season,” Reaves said. “I’m sure they’re going to be hungry. I’m sure they’re going to be fired up for us.

“They’re one of the top teams in the league, and we know that they want to come out here and take us down.”

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.