The Wild were leading their last two first-round playoff series 2-1, in 2022 against St. Louis and 2023 against Dallas. Something they didn’t do in either series was win Game 4, and they wound up losing both in six games.
Up 2-1 on Vegas, Minnesota has a chance to change that narrative on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.
“We were up 2-1 the last two playoff series we were in,” Wild forward Matt Boldy said following the team’s optional skate on Friday afternoon at TRIA Rink. “It doesn’t matter. It’s that time of year where every goal, every play, every puck matters.”
So with Game 4 looming as a pivot point between a massive 3-1 advantage in the series and a 2-2 tie which would hand the home ice advantage back to the Golden Knights, here are a quartet of keys that will likely matter on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul.
1) Stay healthy
After a regular season defined by injuries — most notably the losses of Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek for what amounted to nearly a full campaign of man-games — the Wild have been healthy for almost ⅔ games in the playoffs. A hard hit on second line winger Marcus Johansson on Thursday kept him off the ice for much of the third period, and head coach John Hynes didn’t have an update on Friday.
“I would say questionable right now,” Hynes said. “We’ve just had some initial talks on (how we’d respond) because I’m not sure that he is going to be out. So, I’ll wait until we get a little bit more feedback from the trainers here.”
Johansson has been a key player on a penalty kill that has been very good in the playoffs after a regular season filled with struggles. Replacement options include Liam Ohgren and Devin Shore.
2) Gus the guardian
With the Wild leading 2-0 in the first period on Thursday, Filip Gustavsson allowed a regrettable that he regretted and let the Knights grab back some momentum. After that, he was spectacular, finishing with 30 saves in a 5-2 victory.
“I was a little mad at myself after that first period, but I got it back and the guys helped out by scoring early and having the momentum and riding that wave throughout the game,” he said. “You can say ‘I’m pretty stupid’ and stuff like that first, and then it’s not going to help, mourning about it. Now it’s just next shot, and the next shot came down and I got it in the stomach there and never looked back.”
Gustavsson has been vital, while Vegas made an in-game goalie change on Thursday. Riding a hot goalie is the surest route to Round 2 for either team.
3) Feed off the energy
Gustavsson said he was blown away by the Game 2 crowd in St. Paul.
“It’s very fun. You know, you can’t hear anything,” Gustavsson said. “They’re screaming there at the end of the game and the puck comes down and you have no clue what the D’s going to do. Usually we talk to each other, and you hear nothing — just screaming from the crowd.
“It was a big difference from going to Vegas. I didn’t think that building was as loud as I expected it to be and then you come here and you can’t hear anything, so it’s very fun.”
Saturday will be the first time in this series that the third period will end before most Minnesotans’ bedtime, and a spring day in the State of Hockey should mean plenty of home crowd energy once again.
4) Keep Vegas reeling
After winning the Pacific Division with a deep team that can roll four lines without much drop-off, the Golden Knights were a popular pick among the wagering crowd to hoist the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years.
Trailing by a goal in the second period Thursday night, the Knights pushed and pushed and pushed, and it looked as if a tie game was imminent. Instead, Gustavsson kept them off the board long enough for Boldy to make it 3-1 on a massive hustle play, and Kirill Kaprizov scored a power-play goal with 1.3 seconds left in the period to make it 4-1.
“We’re going into the room as a team and it’s like, ‘We’re down 4-1 after that period? What the hell just happened?’” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But that’s hockey some nights. We’ve got to re-group and create (our) own breaks. They did and took advantage of them.”
The Wild haven’t won a first-round playoff series since 2015. Taking a 3-1 series lead back to the desert would go a long way toward changing that.
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