Holding on to the first wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Vegas Golden Knights wanted two points Saturday at Xcel Energy Center. Eight points out of a playoff spot at puck drop, the Wild needed two points.
And coach John Hynes didn’t want to leave down to a shootout.
So, with 1:49 remaining in overtime, Hynes pulled Filip Gustavsson for an extra attacker, knowing full well that an empty-netter would erase the Wild’s overtime point. It worked in a 4-3 victory over Nashville this month, but not on Saturday.
Jonathan Marchessault’s empty net goal 19 seconds later gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 victory.
Michael Amadio scored the tying goal in the third period, and Logan Thompson made 32 saves as Vegas extended its points streak to six games (5-0-1).
Kirill Kaprizov scored for the Wild, and Filip Gustavsson made 30 saves.
The Wild didn’t draw a penalty until roughly 35 minutes into the game, but it was a long one, and Minnesota made it count. Kaprizov scored 2 minutes, 41 seconds into a 5-minute spearing minor called on Knights center Jack Eichel to make it 1-0 at 16:44.
It was a sweet dose of revenge for Kaprizov, who took a blade to the shoulder while trying to enter the Vegas zone, resulting in Eichel’s major penalty and game misconduct at 14:03 of the second period. Moving through the slot, Kaprizov took a pass from Matt Boldy and sent a snap shot left past Logan Thompson to break a scoreless tie.
After scoring, Kaprizov jumped into the glass behind the net to celebrate the Wild’s 1-0 lead, and it stayed that way until late in the third period when Chandler Stephenson got behind the Wild defense and took a long pass from defenseman Alec Martinez into the Wild zone.
With Brock Faber covering the middle on a 2 on 1, Stephenson sent a soft pass behind the defenseman. Amadio corralled it and beat Gustavsson with a moving wrist shot to tie the game 1-1 with 6:17 left in regulation.
Kaprizov’s goal was his 37th goal of the season. With nine regular-season games remaining, he has a chance to become the first Wild player with three 40-goal seasons.
Marian Gaborik and Eric Staal are the only other Wild players to score 40 goals. Gaborik scored 42 in 2007-08, and Staal tied that mark 10 years later.
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