JETS at GOLDEN KNIGHTS
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN1, CBC, TVAS
Vegas leads best-of-7 series 2-1
LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights could move within one game of the Stanley Cup Final when they play the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.
After losing Game 1, Vegas has won the past two games. It is the first time that Winnipeg has lost back-to-back games in a series and the first time the Jets have trailed in a series this postseason.
Winnipeg last lost consecutive games March 10-13 (0-2-1). It was one of two times this season they went three straight games without a victory (also 0-2-1 Dec. 5-9).
Vegas is 5-1 at home in the postseason and have outscored the opposition 22-10.
Here are 5 keys for Game 4:
1. Traffic jam
The Jets have three goals in the past two games and scoring four in Game 1, including a three-goal outburst in the first period.
They believe they need to get more bodies around Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to make his work more difficult.
Fleury has a .949 even-strength save percentage against the Jets during the conference final.
"It's about capitalizing on those second opportunities," Jets forward Adam Lowry said. "We know there's going to be pucks laying there. He does such a good job directing them to corners and trying to put them in tough spots to get to, but I think when we have success you've got two or three guys in front of him."
2. Perron's status
Vegas forward David Perron is a game-time decision after missing the past two games because of an illness.
Perron has seven assists in nine postseason games.
"Good chance Perron will play," coach Gerard Gallant said.
3. Don't look ahead
Stanley Cup hysteria is at a fever pitch in Las Vegas. Everywhere the Golden Knights go, they are asked about the playoffs, about potentially being one win away from the Final with a victory Friday.
To stay in the here and now is hard, but it's what must be done.
"There's a lot of things that we still need to be better at if we want to get where we want to go," Golden Knights forward Cody Eakin said. "We can definitely clean some areas up. But right now we're sitting in a good situation and we'll look to clean [those areas up] and get ready for the next game."
4. Score first
The first goal has been huge in this series and throughout the playoffs for each team.
The Golden Knights scored first in each of the past two games and never trailed in either one. The Jets scored first in Game 1 and cruised to victory. Each team is 8-1 when scoring first in the postseason.
5. Speed trap
The Jets have looked slower than the Golden Knights for stretches of each of the past two games. But Winnipeg forward Patrik Laine says he and his teammates can and must match the pace at which Vegas plays.
"We just have to be able to play fast and not slow our game down," he said. "I think that's the only way, and one of the big reasons why we can beat those guys."
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Paul Stastny -- Patrik Laine
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Bryan Little
Mathieu Perreault -- Andrew Copp -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Toby Enstrom -- Dustin Byfuglien
Scratched: Tucker Poolman, Joe Morrow, Shawn Matthias, Marko Dano, Jack Roslovic, Matt Hendricks
Injured: Dmitry Kulikov (back)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Alex Tuch -- Erik Haula -- James Neal
Ryan Carpenter -- Cody Eakin -- David Perron
Tomas Nosek -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Tomas Tatar, Oscar Lindberg, Brad Hunt, Jon Merrill
Injured: William Carrier (undisclosed), Malcolm Subban (undisclosed)
Status report
Ehlers will be a game-time decision after missing Game 3 because of an illness. If he plays he likely will replace Roslovic in the lineup. … Carrier has started skating and is closer to returning to the lineup.
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