GAMEDAY: Jets at Golden Knights (Game 2)

Dylan Samberg handled his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut wonderfully on Tuesday, as he helped the Winnipeg Jets to a big win in Game One over the Vegas Golden Knights.

He's a two-time NCAA national champion, and has played in many big games already in his career. But sometimes the playoff stage can be a lot to handle, with every move more magnified than ever before.

That didn't seem to bother the 24-year-old, who played over 15 minutes in the series opening victory.

Tonight, it's time to try and do it all over again.

"I think they're going to come out a lot more intense, as we've seen and what they've talked about," Samberg said. "I think we'll have no problem matching their intensity."

Samberg wasn't the only one on the Jets roster making his National Hockey League postseason debut - David Gustafsson joined him in that department - but both players were contributors to the 5-1 win, and head coach Rick Bowness was impressed with both of them.

Video: PREGAME | Dylan Samberg  

Throughout this season, Samberg was in and out of the line-up, but played all of Winnipeg's final nine games on the schedule to help clinch the wildcard spot.

"In this league as a defenceman, you have a lot to learn. There was a couple of games he made some mistakes and you give him a break and then you throw him right back in," said Bowness. "You've got to encourage them to keep playing and make mistakes and then you have to keep playing them to show the confidence in them."

Every member of the Jets expects a big pushback from the Golden Knights tonight. The top team in the Western Conference, who racked 111 points in the regular season, earned every bit of those accolades - and that fact isn't lost in the Jets room. 

"There's no cushion in the playoffs," said Josh Morrissey. "One win is great and you can build off of it, but like I said, until you get to four wins, it doesn't really matter. Playoffs, each game is a new challenge, each game is a new chess match. That's what makes the playoffs fun."

Video: PREGAME | Rick Bowness

One thing Bowness expects from Vegas is increased pressure on the forecheck. Winnipeg held Vegas - a team that averaged over 31 shots per game in the regular season - to just 17 shots on goal on Tuesday. 

"It's about us getting in their way, slowing them up a little bit and not overhandling the puck," said Bowness. "Get the thing moving. Don't stop in the corner, don't stop behind the net. Let's just keep the puck moving. But in order to do that, you need everyone back to help so you can make those quick, easy plays."

It's expected that the Jets will roll with the same line-up as on Tuesday, as Nikolaj Ehlers remains a game-time decision. The speedy forward practiced on Wednesday and - as he usually does - took the option to stay off the ice in the morning.  

Morgan Barron, who didn't skate on Wednesday, expects to play in Game Two. Of course, it was his return from a skate blade cut near his eye - a wound requiring 75 stitches - that was one of the big stories from the opening game of the series. 

"Some guys have told me it looks better than I expected and some guys look at me like I'm a science project so I've kind of gotten both ends of the spectrum," Barron grinned. "I thought we played a really good game last game, and if we can get two wins and go home I think that's really positive for us."

Video: PREGAME | Morgan Barron

If the line-up remains the same as Tuesday, the lines will look like this, with Connor Hellebuyck getting the start in goal:

Connor-Dubois-Scheifele

Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Wheeler

Barron-Lowry-Appleton

Gustafsson-Stenlund-Maenalanen

Morrissey-DeMelo

Dillon-Pionk

Samberg-Schmidt

Bowness also doesn't get the sense that his Jets team is satisfied with just one win.

Yes, traditional 'strategy' in a best-of-seven as the team starting on the road is to try and get a split in the first two games.

The Jets have guaranteed at least that, but one look around the scoreboard from Wednesday night shows just how hard it is to build a 2-0 series lead.

The Presidents Trophy winning Boston Bruins dropped a 6-3 decision to Florida, so that series is tied. Dallas also tied their series with Minnesota, as did Edmonton in their battle with the Los Angeles Kings.

"We're in a position to help ourselves a lot," said Bowness. "we talked about it today, as the series goes on, every game gets harder to win. Two is harder to win than one, three is harder to win that two and especially the fourth game. We know what we're up against tonight."  

Puck drop is set for 9 pm CT.

-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com

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