When the Vegas Golden Knights won yet another Pacific Division title and notched the second-best record in the Western Conference with 110 points, they were expected to make a strong run to lift their second Stanley Cup in three years.
But the Golden Knights find themselves in must-win mode heading into Saturday’s Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round matchup with the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn., after losing two games in a row to trail the best-of-seven series, 2-1.
Vegas has dropped back-to-back 5-2 decisions to the Wild. Still, center William Karlsson said his team remains confident.
“No, there’s no need for panic,” Karlsson said. “It’s one game at a time. All we can focus on is the next one and have the status quo going back to Vegas, and that’s what we’re aiming for.”
A win on Saturday afternoon would even the series and give the Golden Knights home-ice advantage going into the final three games. They went 29-9-3 in Las Vegas during the regular season.
“The game is over. It’s only Game 3,” said forward Ivan Barbashev, who had a game-high 11 hits. “We all know what they do, and we just have to work harder to get there.”
The Golden Knights so far have not found an answer for containing Minnesota’s top line.
Kirill Kaprizov, who scored two power-play goals in Game 3, is tied for the league lead with seven points this postseason, while linemate Matt Boldy has four goals and six points.
Boldy scored what proved to be the game-winner in the second period Thursday when he stole the puck from defenseman Noah Hanifin behind the goal and then cut in front of the net to fire a wrist shot past Adin Hill.
“He took it to the net and buried it, and he took it inside, and he took it inside the other night when he stuffed one,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So he’s going to the net, going to the dirty areas. Good for him. That’s what you’ve got to do to score I think this time of year. Give him credit for doing that.”
While Kaprizov and Boldy have combined for eight goals and 13 points, the Golden Knights’ top line featuring Jack Eichel and Mark Stone have yet to register a point so far. Both Eichel, who scored a career-high 94 points in the regular season, and Stone are minus-five in plus-minus.
“I think it’s our whole team just playing tight together, trying to take time and space away from them,” Minnesota center Joel Eriksson Ek said. “Just defending well as a team, five guys and a goalie for sure.”
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 of 32 shots in Game 3, including a key pad save on Stone’s point-blank backdoor try during a 6-on-4 power-play with 1:42 remaining that would have cut Minnesota’s lead to one goal. Marcus Foligno then sealed the win with an empty-netter nine seconds later.
“Gus’ has been solid and that’s what we need from him,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “He’s made key saves at key times for us, and a lot of times that’s the difference in the games.”
Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon said his team knows there’s still plenty of work to be done if it wants to move on to the second round.
“It’s a new day on Saturday,” the Wild captain said. “I think we’ve done a good job so far of being even-headed. Just going after it is a new challenge, and we’ve got to do that on Saturday.”
