Despite dropping the opener of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series with the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights, the Minnesota Wild are feeling positive about their chances heading into Game 2 on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
“(There’s) no doubts on the bench,” goaltender Filip Gustavsson said following the 4-2 loss that included an empty-net goal by Brett Howden with just one-tenth of a second left on the clock for the final score. “We were right there with them until the end, and I think that’s how the series is going to be.”
Gustavsson stopped 23 of 26 shots, including a pair of second-period breakaway chances by Brandon Saad and Jack Eichel, to keep the Wild within a goal, 2-1, heading into the final period.
Howden made it 3-1 early in the third period when he finished a rare odd-man rush with a wrist shot from the left circle that caromed in off the top of Gustavsson’s right shoulder. But Matt Boldy cut it to 3-2 midway through the period with his second goal of the game, a wraparound shot inside the left post on a rebound of a Kirill Kaprizov shot.
Minnesota pulled Gustavsson for an extra attacker with 1:30 remaining but Boldy picked up a tripping penalty on William Karlsson just 29 seconds later setting the stage for Howden’s empty-net power-play goal that just beat the clock.
“I thought we played a good game and had our chances and that’s the way it goes,” Boldy said. “You’ve got to win four games. It doesn’t matter when or how. Stay positive and keep going, take the good and work on the bad I guess, and go from there.”
“I thought it was a hard-fought game by both teams,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I think it was what we expected. Both teams came to play hard. Pretty strong defensive efforts. Not a lot of special teams in the game. I thought we did a lot of good things moving forward.”
Minnesota finished with a 54-29 edge in hits in the tight-checking contest while Vegas held a 25-16 advantage in blocked shots. Perhaps the most surprising stat in the opener is that the Wild, who finished 29th in the league faceoffs, won 60 percent of the draws (39-of-65) with Joel Eriksson Ek going 21-of-31 (68 percent).
Counting Howden’s buzzer-beater, Vegas finished 2-for-2 on the power play while Minnesota failed to convert on its only chance with the extra man.
“We won Game 1, which is great,” said Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb, who finished with a game-high six blocked shots. “You need four games to win the series, so we’ve got an opportunity at home tomorrow, and that’s where our mindset is right now.”
“I thought the game was kind of as advertised,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy added. “We made more plays than them at the end and in the offensive zone to secure the win. I think you’ll see a similar game on Tuesday. I don’t think either team is going to try and get away from what they do well.”
Vegas, which swept the three-game regular-season series by a combined score of 12-4, has now won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams. The series shifts to Saint Paul, Minn., after Tuesday night’s contest for Games 3 and 4.
