LAS VEGAS—Chandler Stephenson scored two goals as the Vegas Golden Knights disposed of the Winnipeg Jets for a 4-1 win and clinch the first-round series on Thursday night.
It's also the fourth time that the NHL's 31st team will play in the second round since it entered the league in the 2017-18 season, when the Knights reached the Stanley Cup finals.
Stephenson opened the scoring with his first of two goals to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. Captain Mark Stone added to the lead, then a goal from William Karlsson and Stephenson's second goal helped the Knights push it to 4-0 to end the second period.
Goaltender Laurent Brossoit, who started in all five games in the series, turned aside 30 shots and nearly recorded his first career postseason shutout.
The dominating lead for Vegas was in stark contrast to how the series began.
The Jets opened with a 5-1 win in Game 1, but the Golden Knights responded by winning the next four games in a number of different ways.
Vegas overcame a two-goal deficit in Game 2, survived a three-goal comeback by the Jets to win in overtime in Game 3, and won convincingly in Game 4.
Jets coach Rick Bowness, who is in his first season with Winnipeg, summed up his feelings about his team by saying he was "disgusted and disappointed."
"No pushback. But it's the same crap that we saw in February," Bowness said, referencing when the Jets went from having one of the best records in the West to losing six games and putting their postseason aspirations in jeopardy. "As soon as we were challenging for first place and teams were coming after us, we had no pushback. This series, we had no pushback. Their better players were so much better than ours, it's not even close."
The Golden Knights will now wait for the winner of the Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings series. The Oilers currently hold a 3-2 series lead and will seek to advance to the second round with a win on Saturday.
Comments