WINNIPEG – On his first shift, Nate Schmidt swept a puck out of harm’s way that came off the stick of star Jets center Mark Scheifele and got behind Marc-Andre Fleury. On his last shift, Schmidt dropped to the ice to intercept a cross-crease pass destined for the stick of Scheifele with a gaping net a few feet away.



In between, Schmidt did it all Monday night to help the Vegas Golden Knights seize home-ice advantage in the Western Conference final by earning a Winnipeg split with a 3-1 Game 2 victory to at least temporarily pour some “whiteout” on the Jets’ early parade route plans.



Eight hours south in Woodbury, Minn., Mike Guentzel watched Schmidt, his former University of Minnesota pupil, with pride.



This is a defenseman who a year ago was healthy-scratched for all but seven of 21 regular-season games after the Washington Capitals acquired Kevin Shattenkirk at the trade deadline.



At one point Monday –...