With baby number two on the way any day now, the Winnipeg Jets’ number two goalie looked like a number one Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Eric Comrie stopped all 26 shots he faced, including 14 in the third, as the Jets blanked the Golden Knights 4-0 to maintain their four-point edge over Dallas for first place in the Central Division.
Winnipeg got on the board first at the 13:01 mark of the opening period. Luke Schenn sent a stretch pass up the ice that took a deflection and hit Alex Iafallo near his face but the puck fell to his stick, giving the Jets a 2-on-1. Iafallo held the puck on his backhand before sending a perfect pass to Mark Scheifele that was one-timed past Adin Hill.
Just over five minutes later, Winnipeg’s captain doubled their lead. Adam Lowry carried the puck into the Vegas end before rimming it around the boards to the far point where Logan Stanley grabbed it and fired a shot toward the net. The puck did not get through but after a scramble in front of the crease, Lowry found the puck and deposited it for his 15th of the season, matching his career-high from 2016-17.
Winnipeg outshot the Golden Knights 11-5 in the period despite Vegas having the lone power play of the opening 20 minutes.
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The Jets earned their first power play chance just past the midway point though their power play had been sputtering of late, scoring just three goals on their last 28 chances coming into the game.
But late in the power play look and with the second unit on the ice, Colin Miller blasted a one-timer from the point that beat Hill through some traffic to make it 3-0 Jets at the 11:53 mark of the second.
At this point in the period, Vegas had just three shots on goal and only eight in the game, giving Eric Comrie very little to do but he was tested late in the period, turning aside Mark Stone twice from close range to keep the Jets ahead 3-0 heading to the third.
Vegas made a goalie switch to start the third with Akira Schmid coming in for Hill, though he didn’t have much to do as Vegas pushed hard to try and get anything going in the third, dominating the shot counter but Comrie stood tall.
Desperate for a late push, Vegas pulled Schmid for an extra attacker with 5:28 to go, and while they had a lot of zone time they couldn’t get one past Comrie before Cole Perfetti scored into the empty net with under a minute left.
Winnipeg was outshot 14-3 in the final period but Comrie did the job to pick up his second shutout of the season and fourth of his career with his wife due to give birth any day now.
The Jets will finish off this three-game road trip in Utah on Saturday.
