Knights fall in Winnipeg for 3rd straight loss, 7-4

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Gerard Gallant was irate with one of the on-ice referees in the final minute of the second period Friday, unleashing a string of expletives when Golden Knights forward Oscar Lindberg was assessed a minor penalty for high sticking.

But shortly after the final horn sounded on his team’s 7-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place, the Knights coach opted for diplomacy rather than outrage.

“The referees do a job and they’ve got to call it the best they can and they did a good game,” Gallant said. “Most of the calls, they’re right on every time.”

Gallant sang the praises of the men in stripes despite a decision midway through the second period that helped send the Knights (15-9-1) to their third consecutive loss.

Colin Miller fired a shot past Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to give the Knights an apparent 3-1 lead. However, Jets coach Paul Maurice successfully challenged that Knights forward Alex Tuch was offside on the initial rush into the offensive zone, and the goal was overturned by the NHL replay officials.

“From the view that we saw, it didn’t really look like much there, but I don’t know,” Miller said. “A call’s a call, so you’ve got to live with it.”

Added Knights forward James Neal: “It’s definitely a big factor. It’s tough when you get a big goal out of a guy and they take it away. But I guess it’s part of the rules. We’ve got to be better right after and respond.”

The ruling seemed to ignite the Jets (16-6-4), who tied the score at 2 when Matt Hendricks snapped a shot high to the stick side of Maxime Lagace with 6:39 left in the second period.

But it was the call against Lindberg, who caught Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien with a high stick with 20.4 seconds left in the second, that really set off Gallant.

“I thought Byfuglien interfered with that player … so I didn’t agree with that one,” Gallant said.

The Jets took advantage of the power play, as Kyle Connor ripped a one-timer past Lagace 33 seconds into the third period for a 3-2 lead.

Patrik Laine added another power-play goal 2:15 later, and Nikolaj Ehlers scored on a wraparound at the 6:16 mark to put Winnipeg on top, 5-2.

Connor had two goals, and Laine and Mark Scheifele each added a goal and two assists for the Central Division-leading Jets.

Winnipeg, which entered the game sixth in the league on the power play, went 3-for-5 with the man advantage.

“They’ve got really skilled guys, move the puck around really well. We knew that going in,” Neal said. “A couple tough calls, I thought. We just need to stay out of the box a little bit more.That was it. Power plays can win you the game, and they thrive on theirs.”

The Knights were able to weather an early storm from Winnipeg, which went up 1-0 on Tyler Myers’ power-play goal 4:49 into the first period.

Winnipeg native Cody Eakin tied the score when he swatted a rebound out of the air at 12:51 for his first goal in 21 career games against his hometown team.

William Karlsson scored his team-high 14th goal — and 10th in the past 10 games — with 3:11 remaining in the first as he deflected Nate Schmidt’s shot from the point.

Erik Haula and Miller added goals in the third period for the Knights, who return home to face Arizona on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.

“It was in different spurts of the game that we played really well,” Gallant said. “We played good in spurts, and then we fell asleep in spurts and didn’t play hard.”

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