Coming up with a lousy pair in Vegas, the Winnipeg Jets find themselves short-stacked in the NHL’s Western Conference final.
They desperately need three of a kind — all victories against the Golden Knights — to keep their seat at the table. A 3-2 defeat Friday night to the extraordinary expansion squad has left the Jets in a chasm from which relatively few NHL teams, historically, emerge. Vegas holds a 3-1 lead on Winnipeg in the best-of-seven playoff series, which earns the survivor a spot in the Stanley Cup final against either the Washington Capitals or Tampa Bay Lightning.