Experienced gamblers will tell you that Vegas can be lots of fun. But when the slots go cold, the dice won’t cooperate and the cards don’t flip your way, sometimes all you can do is walk away.
Or skate away, in the case of the Minnesota Wild.
Lady Luck was clearly not on the home team’s side Tuesday as they began a three-game homestand, as the Vegas Golden Knights had an answer for every card trick the Wild had in mind. Vegas, the Pacific Division leaders and a possible first round playoff opponent for the Wild, made off with a 5-1 win.
The Wild, who were shut out 3-0 in Dallas on Monday, got a valiant 33-save performance from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was playing his final regular-season game versus the franchise he led to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Trailing by a pair, they got a third-period goal from Marcus Johansson and made a late push, but came up a few cards short.
Vegas, which ran its winning streak to four games, got 22 saves from goalie Adin Hill and a Jack Eichel hat trick in sweeping their three-game season series with Minnesota.
First-period offense has been in short supply for the Wild in March, and the early game drought continued on Tuesday, as Vegas jumped on the home team early.
Minnesota managed just four shots in the opening 20 minutes and fell behind 1-0 when Eichel popped in the rebound of a shot that Mark Stone had fired, thwarting the best effort by Fleury to stretch out across the yawning goalmouth.
For Eichel, the former Boston University star, it extended his Knights’ franchise single-season points record.
Vegas was playing without leading goal scorer Tomas Hertl for the first time this season. Hertl, who has scored four times in the Golden Knights’ previous two games, was injured in the team’s 4-2 home win over Tampa Bay on Sunday and did not come along on the three-game road trip.
Minnesota got the game’s first power play early in the middle frame when Vegas was caught with too many men on the ice. But the Wild managed just one shot on the man advantage.
Instead, it was the visitors doubling their lead when Brett Howden corralled an errant shot that bounced off the end boards and landed on the edge of the crease to the left of Fleury. Howden was able to slip the puck behind the goalie for a 2-0 Vegas lead before the midway point of the game.
But the Wild got some life early in the third, re-igniting the crowd when Johansson fooled Hill with a shot through traffic to make it a one-goal game again.
They briefly appeared to tie the game later in the third when Marco Rossi deflected a Brock Faber shot past Hill. But officials immediately declared no goal, as Rossi had played the puck with a high stick. The Wild did not challenge the call.
Instead, Eichel ripped a high shot past Fleury on a power play late in the period for his third multi-goal game of the season. Tanner Pearson added a late empty-net goal, and Eichel completed the three-goal night with a shot through Fleury’s pads.
The Wild will welcome one of the NHL’s greatest players, and this season’s greatest sideshows, to St. Paul on Thursday when the Washington Capitals make their only visit of the season.
Caps star forward Alex Ovechkin scored Tuesday night in Winnipeg and needs six goals to tie Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record. While it is highly unlikely that the record will fall in Minnesota, his pursuit of the milestone has just been one part of the fun for Washington this season, as the Caps are the only team in either conference to have a playoff spot secured.
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