Golden Knights open road trip with loss at Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — On Winnipeg’s first rush up the ice Friday, Nikolaj Ehlers circled the net and centered the puck for a wide-open Patrik Laine.

Ryan Reaves tried to clear the pass out of harm’s way, but his attempt went off Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and into the net 32 seconds after the opening faceoff.

It was a harbinger of things to come.

The Knights were on the wrong end of a series of unfortunate bounces and couldn’t overcome the early deficit in a 4-0 loss to the Jets at Bell MTS Place.

“The game was over in the first period,” Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought we started to play in the second and clean some of the stuff up we wanted to do, but the first period was unacceptable.”

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck finished with 29 saves for his NHL-leading sixth shutout. Ehlers finished with two points, and Laine added a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, which led 3-0 after the first period.

It was the 36th time in 69 games the Knights allowed the first goal.

Kyle Connor and Mathieu Perreault also scored, and Jets center Cody Eakin picked up an assist in his first game against his former club.

Fleury had 20 saves but received no run support for the second straight game.

Paul Stastny and Chandler Stephenson each hit the post in the first period, and Brandon Pirri clanked the iron early in the third period for the Knights.

“Same thing with (Los Angeles on Sunday). We got behind the eight ball right away in the game,” Fleury said. “If we started the right way and keep playing the right way for the whole game like we did in the second and third, we’d be in good shape.”

Here’s what stood out from the loss:

Trouble with the kill

Special teams continue to haunt the Knights, who allowed two power-play goals for the second time in three games. It’s the 11th time the Knights have given up two or more power-play goals in a game.

Since the All-Star break, the Knights rank 30th in the league on the penalty kill at 68.1 percent and have allowed 15 power-play goals in 17 games.

Laine converted on Winnipeg’s first power-play chance when Neal Pionk’s shot from the point was blocked and bounced to Laine at the left faceoff circle.

Perreault, in his first game since Jan. 31, added a power-play tally late in the second when he knocked in Josh Morrissey’s pass for his third goal in two games against the Knights.

“We’ve got to be better,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to figure that out, though, because you can’t give up two power-play goals in a night.”

Highs and lows

In an otherwise forgettable first period for the Knights, forward Nicolas Roy was a bright spot despite one mistake.

Roy set up William Karlsson for a short-handed chance about four minutes in and found Max Pacioretty in the slot for a backhand attempt that was stopped by Hellebuyck.

Roy drew a slashing penalty on Jets captain Blake Wheeler midway through the first and tested Hellebuyck with a backhand with 5:22 left in the period.

But with about two minutes remaining, Roy tried to make a pass at the offensive blue line and Winnipeg turned it into a 2-on-1 that was finished off by Connor for a 3-0 lead.

Desperation mode

Winnipeg is battling for its playoff life and it showed, as the Jets played with a sense of urgency that was lacking in the Knights’ game.

“You look at the standings, they need every single point,” DeBoer said. “I don’t know if we feel like maybe we don’t, which would be a mistake on our part.”

The Jets finished with nine takeaways and blocked 16 shots to jump back into a wild-card spot, while the Knights missed an opportunity to stretch their lead in the Pacific Division.

“The underlying factor is we weren’t really good with the puck tonight,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said, “and that caused us to play slow and turn pucks over into their transition.”

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