NASHVILLE — Kyle Connor scored the first two playoff goals of his career and added an assist as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Nashville Predators 6-2 on Saturday night to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist each, while Paul Stastny and Mathieu Perreault also scored for Winnipeg.
Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves to get the win. Blake Wheeler had three assists, while Nikolaj Ehlers added two of his own.
Yannick Weber and Ryan Johansen replied for Nashville. Pekka Rinne stopped 20 of 26 shots before getting pulled in favour of Juuse Saros, who finished with five saves.
The Jets will look to close out the Western Conference semifinal back home in Game 6 on Monday.
Game 7, if necessary, would be back in Nashville on Thursday.
Scoreless through the first 27 minutes Saturday, the teams exploded for six goals in a stretch of just over 10 minutes in the second period.
Stastny put Winnipeg up 1-0 at 7:44 when Patrik Laine’s shot from the left faceoff dot deflected off the Jets centre in front and past Rinne for his fourth of the playoffs.
Rinne made a great stop on Wheeler’s wraparound chance a few minutes earlier before Kevin Fiala fired high over Hellebuyck.
The Predators tied it at 11:08 when Weber jumped on a turnover and moved in on an odd-man rush before roofing a shot past Hellebuyck’s glove for the defenceman’s first playoff goal since 2011.
But Connor restored Winnipeg’s lead just 1:22 later when he popped a loose puck upstairs off a scramble in front for the rookie’s first-ever playoff goal after some good work from Scheifele.
Byfuglien then made it 3-1 at 14:35 with his fourth of the series when he blasted a shot through traffic past Rinne after the Predators goalie made a couple of stops off a scrum in front.
Connor stretched the lead to 4-1 at with 2:59 left in the period when he took a slick feed from Wheeler at side of the Nashville goal to bury his second.
The Jets got the game’s first power play on the next shift, but Johansen raced the other way on a 2-on-1 and beat Hellebuyck shortside for his fifth just 58 seconds later.
But Scheifele put any thoughts of a comeback to bed 28 seconds into the third when he finished off a pass into the slot from Connor for his ninth after a great setup from the first-year winger.
Nashville’s Ryan Hartman had a chance on a break five minutes later, but lost control before getting a shot off on Hellebuyck.
Hartman then took an interference penalty, and Perrault banged home his first off a lucky bounce to end Rinne’s night at 6:23.
The teams split the first two games of the series in Nashville before doing the same in Winnipeg.
After the Jets secured a crazy 7-4 comeback victory in Game 3 on home ice — there were 25 goals scored between the clubs in the first three outings — the Predators battened down the hatches defensively in Game 4, stifling Winnipeg’s speed through the neutral zone in a 2-1 win that evened the series.
The Predators, who claimed their first Presidents’ Trophy, and the Jets finished the season with a combined 231 points — 117 for Nashville, 114 for Winnipeg — the most between two teams ever to meet prior to a conference final.
Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice put Connor back on the top line with Scheifele and Wheeler, while Ehlers skated alongside Stastny and Laine. Connor and Ehlers had flipped spots since the end of the first period of Game 3.
Saturday’s scoreless first saw the Predators get the majority of the chances — Winnipeg had just one shot over the final 7:53 — but Hellebuyck was there at every turn.
The deafening crowd at Bridgestone Arena rose to its feet and cheered non-stop during a TV timeout late in the period as the words "real noise" were displayed on the scoreboard above centre ice in reference to Wheeler’s insinuation after Game 3 that the atmosphere inside Nashville’s rink is partly manufactured.
Notes: Rinne was also pulled in Game 1. … Perreault, out since the opener of Winnipeg’s first-round series with the Minnesota Wild, returned to the lineup, taking the place of veteran winger Matt Hendricks. … Fiala drew in for the Predators after getting scratched for Game 4 in favour of veteran forward Scott Hartnell.
Football: Melbourne Victory have beaten the Newcastle Jets 1-0 in the 2017/18 A-League Grand Final to become champions.
THE A-League Grand Final descended into chaos in its final minutes after Newcastle Jets star Roy O’Donovan was sent off for a flying head kick to Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
The 32-year-old O’Donovan tried leaping through the air in a final attempt to snag a goal for the home side — who were trailling 1-0 — after a free kick was taken in the 94th minute. His boot sailed into Thomas’ face and smashed the 25-year-old to the ground. Thomas was sent to the deck in agony as the referee closed in to hand O’Donovan a red card.
Twitter exploded at the incredible scene, moments before Melbourne claimed the 2018 title.
Lost for words after that challenge. Absolutely disgraceful. Hang your head in shame O'Donovan. #ALeagueGF — Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) May 5, 2018
Should get a year for that #ALEAGUEGF — Andrew Eales (@edeales) May 5, 2018
That is absolute thuggery from Roy O’Donovan. Hideous. #ALeagueGF — Carly Adno (@CarlyAdno226) May 5, 2018
Thomas returned to the field with his head wrapped up in bandages and later won the Joe Marston medal as the best player on the field.
‘OBVIOUS ERROR’: VAR CALL SLAMMED
The controversial VAR system again reared its head during the biggest game of the 2018 A-League season.
After being awarded a free kick, Melbourne Victory players lined up alongside their Newcastle Jets opponents at the top of the box and as the kick came in it was evident they were standing in an off-side position.
Unfortunately it wasn’t picked up by the technology.
The clear miss left many fans up in arms and to make matters worse for the home sided Jets, it led to the opening goal of the game.
Kosta Barbarouses pounced on a ball inside the penalty box and watched as the ball richoted into the back of the net off of a Jets player.
His strike in the ninth minute was the quickest goal ever recorded in A-League grand final history, much to the dismay of Jets fans.
Aussie legend Robbie Slater teed off at the call in the halftime break. “He’s clearly offside,” he said. “The VAR, having twice got it wrong in the semi-final, have got it wrong again on the biggest possible stage.
“What is the VAR for? You can’t blame the players. It’s an obvious error, there’s not any doubt about it.”
My god, Australian referees are terrible. You have VAR and still can't work out a decision! — Luca Cetta (@l_cetta) May 5, 2018
I follow Victory but VAR is shocking, should of been off side and scores still level, how does it not see that? @secosabi @Singy_5 #AleagueGF — Wayne Siekman (@sambo54111) May 5, 2018
The final insult of the #VAR. Getting a clear offside wrong in the #AleagueGF. What is the point of having the technology if we have no one capable of implementing it correctly. Absolutely criminal. #NEWvMVC — Rob Greenwood (@robgreenwood1) May 5, 2018
In the end, it was Ernie Merrick’s one-time protege turned combatant Kevin Muscat who got the last laugh in a contest that started breathlessly but was shut down by Victory’s experienced campaigners.
While the Jets dominated all the first-half statistics they couldn’t overcome the all-powerful Thomas, whose gargantuan saves inspired his side to exorcise the ghosts of last season’s grand-final penalty-shootout loss to Sydney FC. They went behind early when Leroy George’s swooping free kick found the head of James Donachie, who knocked it down for Barbarouses to fire past Glen Moss via a deflection off Johnny Koutroumbis.
Replays showed Donachie - and two teammates - had been offside, yet the VAR remained silent.
The Jets responded swiftly, raining down on Victory’s goal and navigating a way past every opponent bar the brick wall of Thomas.
The visiting custodian took a reflex dive to deny Roy O’Donovan’s instinctive flick off a Koutroumbis cross.
Minutes later Thomas topped it, parrying away Riley McGree’s would-be equaliser before recovering in time to divert Jason Hoffman’s point-blank follow-up shot away to safety.
If not for those world-class efforts the Jets would at least have levelled the ledger, finishing a one-sided first half with 11 shots to three. McGree ran the midfield while Socceroo Dimi Petratos and Venezuelan trickster Ronny Vargas exposed Stefan Nigro on the left flank.
But they faded after the break as the Jets’ early momentum fell victim to a staunch Victory defence run by Thomas Deng and James Donachie. The visitors utilised their big-stage experience to close down the game as James Troisi and Terry Antonis began to properly assert themselves. The latter was momentarily felled during an aerial clash with ex-Victory man Daniel Georgievski.
But it was O’Donovan who really came off worse for wear when he threw himself in the path of Besart Berisha to stop the ball rolling over the goal line and copped a stray elbow the face.
The Irish marksman soon had a swollen lump under his eye but clashed with Thomas soon after, trying to get direction on a header before delivering his horrible kick.
— with AAP
BIZARRE ENTERTAINMENT TURNS HEADS
Well, Newcastle. That surely was something else.
Fans who flocked to the first A-League grand final held at a regional venue were greeted with a left-of-centre opening act before the Newcastle Jets kicked off against the Melbourne Victory.
Dancers lit up by LED lights to resemble stickmen performed to a host of 90’s hits, including Blur’s famous “Song 2”.
The wacky display came barely a month after the polarising Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony on the Gold Coast divided fans.
Luckily for Newcastle, the fan feedback was mostly positive for the bombastic display at McDonald Jones Stadium.
At least this is better than the Comm Games opening ceremony #NEWvMVC — Ben Smee (@BenSmee) May 5, 2018
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Connor, Scheifele and Wheeler combined for eight points as the Jets toppled the Predators 6-2 to take a 3-2 series lead Full Story
