The Vegas Golden Knights fell into a three-goal hole in the first period and were unable to climb out of it, ultimately falling 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild in Game 2 of their first-round matchup Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The best-of-seven series is now tied at 1-1.
The Golden Knights got off to a fantastic start but were unable to beat Filip Gustavsson early despite getting the first five shots of the game.
But the rest of the period belonged to Minnesota.
Adin Hill came up with two outstanding stops, the first a pad save on a backdoor bid by Joel Eriksson Ek and the next a glove save on Matt Boldy from the slot.
But it wouldn’t be long before Boldy scored his third goal of the series, as a sleek Kirill Kaprizov setup sent Boldy on a partial breakaway, and he beat the Vegas netminder to give the road team a 1-0 lead just shy of the midway mark of the first.
It was the first of three first-period tallies by the Wild, who did not take their foot off the gas.
Just 1:39 later, Marcus Foligno doubled Minnesota’s lead after finding his way to the front of the net and putting home Ryan Hartman’s centering feed.
Bruce Cassidy swapped Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev as Vegas searched for a response. The Golden Knights began to generate some sustained pressure, but Gustavsson was up to the task.
Instead of turning things around, the Golden Knights shot themselves in the foot with a series of miscues that resulted in Minnesota’s third goal of the period.
First, Brayden McNabb missed a hit on Mats Zuccarello in the neutral zone, and then Shea Thedore whiffed on a pass attempt in the defensive zone. Marcus Johansson took full advantage, collecting the free puck and finding a streaking Zuccarello, who got behind the Vegas defense (a.k.a. Tomas Hertl, who was covering for McNabb). Hill got a piece of the shot, but the puck trickled into the net.
It was a disastrous opening 20 minutes for the Golden Knights. In particular, it was a brutal frame for Theodore, who committed multiple turnovers and — along with McNabb — was on the ice for all three goals.
The shots may have been 10-10, but it was anything but an evenly-matched period. Vegas actually led 27-22 in shot attempts, but Minnesota held a 17-12 advantage in scoring chances, an 11-3 edge in blocks and a comfortable 3-0 lead where it mattered.
Things further unraveled four minutes into the middle frame when Vegas got burned by more of the same. Another Theodore turnover sent Minnesota in on an odd-man rush. Despite the fact that it was Kaprizov who had the puck, the resulting scoring chance was about as favorable for Vegas as it could have been. But while Hill appeared to come up with the save, his momentum pulled him and the puck back into the net to make it 4-0.
It was Minnesota’s fourth goal on 12 shots in 23:59.
The Golden Knights started to show some signs of life with some extended shifts in Minnesota’s end. Eventually, Noah Hanifin was able to solve Gustavsson.
For the fifth time in the game, Theodore was on the ice for a goal. This time, however, it went in Vegas’ favor, making it a 4-1 game at 12:04.
The Wild had a 3-on-1 shortly thereafter, but Alex Pietrangelo came up with a huge defensive play to prevent what would have been a devastating blow. Theodore later made a big stand at the blue line to prevent another dangerous opportunity for Minnesota.
The Golden Knights continued to push until the final buzzer, holding the Wild without a shot for the final 15:09 of the second. But Gustavsson turned aside 10 of 11 shots to keep the deficit at three.
The Golden Knights pulled within two 2:26 into the third period on Hertl’s second of the series.
But that’s as close as Vegas got in its comeback effort. Kaprizov scored an empty-net goal with 2:26 remaining to restore the three-goal lead. The Wild, who were undefeated in the regular season when leading after two periods, maintained that trend to close out the 5-2 win.
The Golden Knights were unable to overcome an uncharacteristic first period, and they were unable to regain control before it was too late. The third goal was a backbreaker, particularly given the circumstances. Their push the rest of the way was admirable, but they didn’t deliver a playoff-caliber effort at a critical point in the season.
This was arguably Theodore’s worst individual performance in his career. The timing couldn’t have been worse, though this loss wasn’t solely on him. McNabb, like Theodore, finished with a minus-four rating, and he took the only penalty of the game, which cost Vegas two minutes in the third.
Hill faced just 16 shots on the night, including three in the second period and three in the third. He stopped 12 of those, good for a save percentage of .750. The third and fourth goals were stoppable. The first one was, too, though it was a sensational pass by Kaprizov, and it’s hard to blame Hill on a partial breakaway.
Even so, this is when Hill needs to be at his best, but he didn’t bail out his teammates in this one.
Vegas was sloppy across the board and did not manage the puck well at all. The Golden Knights made way too many mistakes, and the Wild made them pay dearly. The Golden Knights also didn’t rein things in when the game started to get away from them, nor did they demonstrate a desperate hunger.
Vegas finished with an 89-52 edge in Corsi and 32-17 lead in shots, but they didn’t take control until it was already too late.
Gustavsson’s play was another factor that shouldn’t go overlooked. He didn’t have to stand on his head, but he was calm, cool and collected in net. His first-period save on Victor Olofsson was a big one, and he made the necessary saves to keep the game out of reach. At 2-0, he made a key stop on a Keegan Kolesar wraparound, and he continued to make plays throughout the contest to thwart Vegas’ rally.
Clearly, this is a Wild team that means business, and Minnesota’s opportunistic performance in Game 2 has turned this into a best-of-five matchup. The series will shift to Minnesota for Game 3, which is set for Thursday night.
The Golden Knights are no strangers to adversity, and their play throughout the final 40 minutes should give them confidence moving forward. They just need to make adjustments and get back to work.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.