LAS VEGAS — Everything is new in the playoffs, but for the Minnesota Wild at least one bothersome trend from the regular season made an appearance in game No. 83.
As they did three times between December and March, the Wild played a tough game with the Vegas Golden Knights, pushing back when provoked and sometimes having an answer for the home team’s offense.
And in their NHL playoff opener, it wasn’t enough — just like in the regular season.
The Knights scored in every period on Sunday and never trailed, thwarting a two-goal evening by Minnesota forward Matt Boldy in a 4-2 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is a 10 p.m. CT start on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.
The Wild got 23 saves from Filip Gustavsson but lost their opening road game of the playoffs for the first time this decade. Boldy, who led the Wild in goals, assists and points in the regular season, carried his offense over into the postseason, but a two-goal lead by Vegas in the third period was too much to overcome.
“What we expected. I think both teams came to play hard and pretty good, strong defensive efforts. Not a lot of special teams in the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I thought we did a lot of good things to build on and move forward here.”
Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill had 19 saves in the win. Brett Howden scored a pair of goals for the Knights, who won the Pacific Division in the regular season.
The physical tone that fans have come to expect from playoff hockey was evident from the opening faceoff, underscored roughly 5 minutes into the opening period when Wild center Ryan Hartman was leveled near the defensive blue line by an open-ice blindside hit by Knights winger Ivan Barbashev. Hartman was slow getting off the ice but returned for a shift a few minutes later.
Vegas got the first goal on a hard-working individual play by Tomas Hertl. The Knights center used his stick to thwart a clearing attempt by Wild defenseman Brock Faber at the side of the net, then grabbed the loose puck and fired it into a tiny gap over Gustavsson’s right shoulder to give the home team the early lead.
But Minnesota had a quick answer when Kirill Kaprizov fed Boldy with a cross-ice pass, which Boldy converted with a low shot that beat Hill on the glove side to make it 1-1.
Near the midway point of the game, Knights winger Brandon Saad got behind the Wild defense and had a breakaway from the blue line but his the crossbar. Minnesota did not escape the period unscathed, however, as a high sticking penalty on Joel Eriksson Ek gave Vegas the game’s first power play, and they needed just 5 seconds of man advantage to take the lead back.
Minnesota’s top line made a strong push late in the middle frame but the Wild headed to the second intermission down a goal.
Vegas opened things up early in the third when a promising offensive zone possession by the Wild went sour quickly and the Knights opened up a 3-1 lead. Streaking down the wing, Howden exploited that same tiny gap above Gustavsson’s shoulder.
Special teams were a theme for Vegas in the regular season, during which they set a franchise record by scoring more than 28 percent of the time on their power play. They also set a NHL record for fewest penalties in a season, being whistled just 197 times in 82 games. That last stat may become a theme as this series rolls on, as Hartman took not only the hit which could have been called interference, but also a cross check to the face in the third period that also went unpunished.
Hartman said afterward that if the series is about five-on-five hockey with few penalties called, that suits Minnesota well.
“That’s fine with us. It’s playoff hockey. We’re pretty happy with our team five-on-five, so that’s fine with us,” he said. “We both had a power play. It’s pretty even.”
Hartman declined to opine on the two hits that went unpenalized.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb was called for boarding Hartman later in the third period, but Minnesota failed to convert on its only power play chance.
Down by two, the Wild refused to go quietly, and pulled back within a goal when Boldy corralled a deflected shot by Kaprizov and deposited a backhanded wraparound shot to make it 3-2 with just more than 8 minutes remaining.
Hynes pulled Gustavsson with less than 90 seconds left, but Boldy was whistled for tripping with William Karlsson headed for the empty net.
“They’re a good team. They don’t give up much. Same with us, so you expect that going in,” Boldy said of the tight-checking nature of Vegas in the playoffs. “I thought we played a good game, had our chances. That’s the way it goes.”
Howden was credited with an empty net goal in the final second for the two-goal margin.
“Good for Howie. He’s had a good year and has been there for us all season,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said in the postgame press conference.
Boldy said there was some optimism to be had from the push made by the Wild in the third, and the fact that they didn’t fold despite being down by two goals.
“You’ve got to win four games. It doesn’t matter when or how,” he said. “Just stay positive, keep going. Take the good and work on the bad, I guess.”
After taking his rookie lap at the start of warmups, with several family members watching from the front row, defenseman Zeev Buium became the first player in Wild franchise history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs. Paired with veteran Zach Bogosian, he logged more than 13 minutes and showed flashes of the puck-moving skill that made him the top offensive defenseman in college hockey last season with Denver.
“After my first shift the nerves completely went away,” said Buium, who had one shot on goal in the game. “Less nerves than I thought there was going to be. After my first shift it was just like, ‘You’re playing hockey now.’ ”
Buium, who turned 19 in December, became the 12th-youngest player in league history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs.
There was an unplanned timeout early in the second period when linesman Bryan Panich had to be helped from the ice after an inadvertent collision with a Golden Knights player near the blue line. He was replaced by standby official Frederick L’Ecuyer.
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LAS VEGAS — Everything is new in the playoffs, but for the Minnesota Wild at least one bothersome trend from the regular season made an appearance in game No. 83.
As they did three times between December and March, the Wild played a tough game with the Vegas Golden Knights, pushing back when provoked and sometimes having an answer for the home team’s offense.
And in their NHL playoff opener, it wasn’t enough — just like in the regular season.
The Knights scored in every period on Sunday and never trailed, thwarting a two-goal evening by Minnesota forward Matt Boldy in a 4-2 win to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 2 is a 10 p.m. CT start on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.
The Wild got 23 saves from Filip Gustavsson but lost their opening road game of the playoffs for the first time this decade. Boldy, who led the Wild in goals, assists and points in the regular season, carried his offense over into the postseason, but a two-goal lead by Vegas in the third period was too much to overcome.
“What we expected. I think both teams came to play hard and pretty good, strong defensive efforts. Not a lot of special teams in the game,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I thought we did a lot of good things to build on and move forward here.”
Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill had 19 saves in the win. Brett Howden scored a pair of goals for the Knights, who won the Pacific Division in the regular season.
The physical tone that fans have come to expect from playoff hockey was evident from the opening faceoff, underscored roughly 5 minutes into the opening period when Wild center Ryan Hartman was leveled near the defensive blue line by an open-ice blindside hit by Knights winger Ivan Barbashev. Hartman was slow getting off the ice but returned for a shift a few minutes later.
Vegas got the first goal on a hard-working individual play by Tomas Hertl. The Knights center used his stick to thwart a clearing attempt by Wild defenseman Brock Faber at the side of the net, then grabbed the loose puck and fired it into a tiny gap over Gustavsson’s right shoulder to give the home team the early lead.
But Minnesota had a quick answer when Kirill Kaprizov fed Boldy with a cross-ice pass, which Boldy converted with a low shot that beat Hill on the glove side to make it 1-1.
Near the midway point of the game, Knights winger Brandon Saad got behind the Wild defense and had a breakaway from the blue line but his the crossbar. Minnesota did not escape the period unscathed, however, as a high sticking penalty on Joel Eriksson Ek gave Vegas the game’s first power play, and they needed just 5 seconds of man advantage to take the lead back.
Minnesota’s top line made a strong push late in the middle frame but the Wild headed to the second intermission down a goal.
Vegas opened things up early in the third when a promising offensive zone possession by the Wild went sour quickly and the Knights opened up a 3-1 lead. Streaking down the wing, Howden exploited that same tiny gap above Gustavsson’s shoulder.
Special teams were a theme for Vegas in the regular season, during which they set a franchise record by scoring more than 28 percent of the time on their power play. They also set a NHL record for fewest penalties in a season, being whistled just 197 times in 82 games. That last stat may become a theme as this series rolls on, as Hartman took not only the hit which could have been called interference, but also a cross check to the face in the third period that also went unpunished.
Hartman said afterward that if the series is about five-on-five hockey with few penalties called, that suits Minnesota well.
“That’s fine with us. It’s playoff hockey. We’re pretty happy with our team five-on-five, so that’s fine with us,” he said. “We both had a power play. It’s pretty even.”
Hartman declined to opine on the two hits that went unpenalized.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb was called for boarding Hartman later in the third period, but Minnesota failed to convert on its only power play chance.
Down by two, the Wild refused to go quietly, and pulled back within a goal when Boldy corralled a deflected shot by Kaprizov and deposited a backhanded wraparound shot to make it 3-2 with just more than 8 minutes remaining.
Hynes pulled Gustavsson with less than 90 seconds left, but Boldy was whistled for tripping with William Karlsson headed for the empty net.
“They’re a good team. They don’t give up much. Same with us, so you expect that going in,” Boldy said of the tight-checking nature of Vegas in the playoffs. “I thought we played a good game, had our chances. That’s the way it goes.”
Howden was credited with an empty net goal in the final second for the two-goal margin.
“Good for Howie. He’s had a good year and has been there for us all season,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said in the postgame press conference.
Boldy said there was some optimism to be had from the push made by the Wild in the third, and the fact that they didn’t fold despite being down by two goals.
“You’ve got to win four games. It doesn’t matter when or how,” he said. “Just stay positive, keep going. Take the good and work on the bad, I guess.”
After taking his rookie lap at the start of warmups, with several family members watching from the front row, defenseman Zeev Buium became the first player in Wild franchise history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs. Paired with veteran Zach Bogosian, he logged more than 13 minutes and showed flashes of the puck-moving skill that made him the top offensive defenseman in college hockey last season with Denver.
“After my first shift the nerves completely went away,” said Buium, who had one shot on goal in the game. “Less nerves than I thought there was going to be. After my first shift it was just like, ‘You’re playing hockey now.’ ”
Buium, who turned 19 in December, became the 12th-youngest player in league history to make his NHL debut in the playoffs.
There was an unplanned timeout early in the second period when linesman Bryan Panich had to be helped from the ice after an inadvertent collision with a Golden Knights player near the blue line. He was replaced by standby official Frederick L’Ecuyer.
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