The Vegas Golden Knights (17-9-11) suffered their fifth loss in the last six games in a disastrous 5-2 defeat against the Minnesota Wild (24-10-6) Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The already-shorthanded Golden Knights were forced to play almost the entire game without Tomas Hertl, who was ejected after boarding Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman just over two minutes into the contest. Though Vegas killed off the ensuing five-minute major, it was a trainwreck of a night from beginning to end for the home team, which falls to 1-1-1 on this four-game homestand.
The Wild scored the first five goals of the game and did so on just 12 shots, ending Carter Hart’s night midway through the second period.
Akira Schmid played the final 33:04 and turned aside all 15 shots he faced, but the damage was already done. The Golden Knights were no match for the Wild, particularly without the services of Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, Hertl and Shea Theodore.
Zach Whitecloud had to leave the game in the third period after Noah Hanifin collided with him, though he was able to return. Whitecloud’s return was the only positive takeaway from a brutal night in Sin City.
The Wild jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 26 seconds into the game, as Marcus Johansson beat Hart on a one-timer for his 12th of the year. Johansson finished the game with four points.
Hertl’s penalty came at 2:13; Hartman was injured on the play but later returned and played 13:01.
The penalty set up a dangerous five-minute power play for the road team, which recently bolstered its firepower with the acquisition of defenseman Quinn Hughes. However, the Vegas penalty kill came through with a massive effort, holding the Wild to just three shots while blocking four. Brayden McNabb made a particularly clutch play to save a goal when he held the goal line after a puck got past Hart.
After Hertl’s game misconduct, the Golden Knights were left with a center group of Mitch Marner, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons the rest of the way.
The Golden Knights got two power plays of their own in the first period, but the Vegas man-advantage wasn’t overly effective without Eichel and Hertl (despite Ivan Barbashev’s best efforts).
In between those opportunities, the Wild made it 2-0 on a perfectly-executed 2-on-1 between Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. Boldy potted his 25th of the year at 14:06 after Eriksson Ek fed the pass between the legs of Ben Hutton.
The second period started off exactly the same as the first, with the Wild scoring just 26 seconds into the frame once again. This time, it was defenseman Jared Spurgeon who lit the lamp.
Surprisingly, the Golden Knights challenged for a missed stoppage that would have halted play after a supposed high stick by Boldy. However, the review determined that Boldy did not play the puck above his shoulders, thus confirming the call on the ice. The result was a Vegas minor for delay of game for the failed challenge. Once again, the Vegas penalty kill came through, but it wasn’t enough to win the momentum in Vegas’ favor.
Instead, defenseman Brock Faber scored from downtown to give the Wild a commanding 4-0 lead at 4:32.
It was the club’s fourth goal on 10 shots. Goal No. 5 came just two shots later off the stick of Eriksson Ek, as the Wild capitalized on a Vegas turnover to make it 5-0. This chased Hart from the crease.
It was the 10th goal Hart surrendered in his last 91:56 of hockey, not including the shootgoal goals by Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon. However, he was not solely to blame for the blowout, especially since three of the goals were scored on backdoor plays.
Regardless, the Golden Knights found a little life towards the end of the period to end Filip Gustavsson’s shutout bid. McNabb scored with 3:10 remaining in the period to make it 5-1, with the goal coming at the tail end of a tenacious shift by the Vegas cycle.
The Golden Knights found twine again in the third period, as a loose puck made its way to Mark Stone, who jammed home the rebound to make it 5-2 at 2:14.
However, there would be no ferocious comeback in this one. The Golden Knights cut the deficit to three on Stone’s goal, but the third-period push wasn’t spirited or particularly inspired. The Wild were the far superior team from top to bottom.
There’s nothing the Golden Knights can or should take from this performance. If ever there was a game to leave in the rearview mirror, it would be this one. The line of Howden, Reilly Smith and Braeden Bowman was on the ice for three of Minnesota’s five tallies, but it was a team-wide dud in the peniultimate game of 2025.
The Golden Knights will wrap up the homestand and the calendar year with a meeting against the red-hot Nashville Predators on Wednesday.
Eichel did skate in a red, no-contact sweater on Monday but did not participate in morning skate; his status for Wednesday is unknown. However, Schmid will be between the pipes, which Bruce Cassidy confirmed was the plan all along.
Photo via Golden Knights