Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal in overtime capped a determined Minnesota Wild effort in which they never trailed and held off a valiant comeback push by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Wild gave up a pair of power-play goals but managed to win 3-2 Sunday at Grand Casino Arena, improving to 6-1-1 in what perhaps should be dubbed “better November.”
Joel Eriksson Ek and Yakov Trenin scored in the first and second periods, respectively, for the Wild, who got 23 saves from Filip Gustavsson and are now 9-7-4 overall this season.
The Wild had the only four shots of overtime, and got a brief power play in the final minute of the extra session that allowed Kaprizov to get his team-leading 11th goal in dramatic fashion.
Minnesota’s first goal came after a set-up pass by Johansson found Mats Zuccarello uncovered in the low slot in front of the Vegas net. With Knights goalie Carl Lindbom squared to the potential shot, Zuccarello instead zipped a cross-ice pass to Eriksson Ek for a wide open shot.
It marked the franchise-record ninth consecutive game that Minnesota has scored first.
But Vegas solved the Wild’s recently solid penalty kill later in the opening period, with Pavel Dorofeyev scoring his team-leading 11th goal for the Knights.
After Vegas killed an early penalty in the middle frame, dropping the Minnesota power play to 0-10 in the past two games, the Wild took the lead back on the classic “throw it toward the net and see what happens” goal. From the side of the Vegas net, Trenin directed the puck into the crease, where it hit traffic and trickled between goalie Carl Lindbom’s knees.
But the Vegas power play provided the equalizer again in the third when a Reilly Smith shot sailed through a crowd in front of Gustavsson.
Wild top line center Ryan Hartman left the game in the third period, due to what appeared to be a leg injury as he headed down the tunnel.
Lindbom, who is still looking for his first career win, had 24 saves and fell to 0-3-2 as a starter.
It was the first meeting with the Golden Knights since Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in their opening round playoff series last spring, only to see Vegas win the final three games and advance. They will meet two more times in the regular season – Dec. 29 and March 6, both in Las Vegas.
The Wild close out their current five-game homestand on Wednesday, facing the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this month. The nationally-televised game faces off at 8:30 p.m.
Briefly
With his assist on the Wild’s first goal, Johansson now has 13 points in Minnesota’s past dozen games. He saw a career-best nine-game scoring streak snapped versus San Jose last week, but he immediately began a new streak in Saturday’s win versus Anaheim. After that game, Johansson said the Wild’s place in the standings was his sole focus amid the individual hot streak.
“I’m just happy we got the points, and that’s all that matters,” he said.
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