LAS VEGAS — The Minnesota Wild got to the playoffs a few weeks ago with their backs against the wall and no margin for error. Maybe that same level of desperation will keep them in the playoffs after an emotional punch to the gut on Tuesday has them facing elimination.
Brett Howden scored in overtime for the Vegas Golden Knights for a 3-2, overtime win in a game where Minnesota never led, lost its starting goalie to an illness and still looked to have won the game with barely a minute left in regulation. After all of that drama, the Wild’s loss gives Vegas a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Howden caught a pass from behind the net and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a quick shot to close out a game where the home team never trailed.
Game 6 will be played Thursday evening in St. Paul at 6:30 p.m. CT.
“I think our guys are obviously disappointed that we lost the game, but I think there’s a lot of belief,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “You can see the conviction with (which) we play. The last two games could have gone either way. It happened to go their way, but we’ve got another one coming from that. So, all those little things that come out of this game, we’ll be ready for a battle again, and we’ll just have to turn the tides and get one.”
Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) reacts after scoring the tying goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the third period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Tuesday, April 29, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy maintained their goal-per-game playoff pace, scoring in the first and third periods, respectively, for the Wild, who made a furious push but could not get to three. Minnesota got 23 saves from starter Filip Gustavsson before he was was lifted after 40 minutes due to illness. Fleury played the third period and overtime for Minnesota, finishing with six saves, but gave up the Vegas game-winner.
Adin Hill had 20 saves for Vegas. For the third consecutive trip to the postseason, Minnesota will face elimination in six games after leading the series 2-1.
Minnesota thought the game was won late in regulation only to have an apparent go-ahead goal overturned. Ryan Hartman fired a backhander with 75 seconds left that the Vegas goalie stopped, only to have the rebound carom off Hartman’s leg and in. After video review the officials declared it a good goal, but Vegas then challenged for offside, and reviews showed that Gustav Nyquist had crossed the blue line about an inch ahead of the puck, so the goal came off the board.
“Thought we had the go-ahead goal there, but we brought the game back to where we wanted. We had a chance in OT,” Hartman said. “Obviously, we would have liked if that one counted, but we had a chance on the road in OT to win. But we’re coming back to Minnesota and we need a win at home.”
Nyquist was not made available for interviews by the team following the game.
Minnesota got the game’s first power play, which turned out to be good for both teams. Vegas struck first on a shorthanded rush when William Karlsson was left with a yawning net to hit for his first goal of the playoffs.
Vegas fans were still cheering the early lead 13 seconds later when Kaprizov erased it, taking a cross-ice pass from Mats Zuccarello and firing a low shot that Hill could not stop. It was Kaprizov’s fifth goal of the playoffs, and a return to form after he was held scoreless in Game 4.
Kirill Kaprizov #97 and Ryan Hartman #38 of the Minnesota Wild celebrate after Kaprizov’s power play goal during the first period in Game Five of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on April 29, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Knights answered later in the first when a blast from the blue line by Mark Stone beat Gustavsson low. Karlsson was at the top of the crease when the shot came in and may have made contact with the goalie before the shot arrived. It was enough for Hynes to use a coaches challenge.
When officials ruled it was a good goal, the ensuing delay of game penalty, served by Zuccarello, gave Vegas its first power play of the game. The Wild held them off long enough for Zuccarello to leave the penalty box and come in alone on Hill, but the goalie stuffed the breakaway to maintain the Knights’ one-goal lead after 20 minutes.
The middle frame was just seven seconds old when Boldy was tripped entering the offensive zone, giving the Wild their second power play of the night, but they put nothing on the scoreboard. It was the same for the Knights, who had back-to-back power plays midway through the second period but were thwarted by the Wild’s improving penalty killers — most notably some deft pad work by Gustavsson.
But Gustavsson had been feeling ill all day and was not able to play in after the second intermission.
The third period drama began before the puck was dropped, as Vegas fans saw Fleury coming into the game and chanted the name of the player who backstopped the Golden Knights run to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Minnesota did not allow a shot through to the net for nearly 14 minutes, then Boldy took a long lead pass from Joel Eriksson Ek and cut across the goalmouth with Hill leaning the wrong way to knot the score at 2-2.
“It would’ve been perfect with a win,” Fleury said after the game of his unexpected appearance in Vegas.
It was the first time Fleury had played since the Wild’s regular-season finale, when he played in overtime versus Anaheim after Minnesota had clinched a playoff berth.
“This thing is far from over,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “Like I said, they’ve still got to beat us. We’re going to be ready for a war on Thursday.”
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