On Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights (17-9-11) played the third of a four-game homestead against the Minnesota Wild (23-10-6). They allowed a goal just 26 seconds into the first period, and saw Tomáš Hertl ejected shortly thereafter. Their night only got worse from there, and the Wild rolled to a 5-2 victory.
The Golden Knights have been better with starting on time for the last few games. That trend did not continue tonight.
The Wild struck just 26 seconds into the first period after cycling the puck. Jonas Brodin threaded a cross-ice pass to Marcus Johansson, who ripped it past Carter Hart shortside.
The Golden Knights got themselves into trouble at 2:13 in the first period. Tomáš Hertl was called for boarding Ryan Hartman and assessed a five-minute major. After video review, the call on the ice was upheld.
The Golden Knights’ penalty kill stood tall and held the Wild to just three shots. However, they were already down their top two centers in Jack Eichel and William Karlsson, and Hertl’s ejection didn’t help matters.
The Wild doubled their lead at 14:06 in the first. Marcus Johansson chipped a pass ahead to Joel Eriksson Ek, who raced up ice in a 2-on-1 with Matt Boldy. Eriksson Ek snuck a pass past Ben Hutton and Boldy slammed it home.
The Golden Knights started the second period slowly as well. Once again, the Wild made them pay just 26 seconds into the period. Marcus Johansson found Jared Spurgeon all alone in the left circle, and the Wild Captain ripped it home. The Golden Knights challenged for a missed game stoppage, but the officials upheld the call on the ice of a good goal.
Things didn’t improve from there. The Wild dominated the rest of the period, outshot the Golden Knights 13-5, and controlled 67.29% of the expected goal share.
The Wild extended their lead at 4:32 in the second. Danika Yurov provided a screen and Brock Faber scored from distance.
The Wild added another at 6:56 in the second. Marcus Johansson left the puck for Matt Boldy; Boldy found Eriksson Ek in front of the net for a nifty redirection.
In an attempt to wake up his team and give Akira Schmid some game action, Bruce Cassidy pulled Carter Hart. Schmid stopped all 15 shots he faced, but, with a five-goal deficit, the goaltending change did very little to motivate the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights got on the board at 16:50 in the second period. Ivan Barbashev found Brayden McNabb in the left circle, and McNabb broke Filip Gustavsson’s shutout with a far-side wrister.
The Golden Knights added another at 2:14 in the third period. Mitch Marner held the puck in the zone and fed Ivan Barbashev in the right circle. Zach Bogosian broke up Barbashev’s centering pass, but Mark Stone jammed the puck past Gustavsson.
Despite scoring the last two goals, the Golden Knights didn’t have any fight left in them. They managed just two shots on goal for the remainder of the period and the Wild held on for a 5-2 win.
