Wild vs. Golden Knights: A Three-Goal First Period and a Perfect Penalty Kill End Vegas' Win Streak

The Vegas Golden Knights rolled into St. Paul on a four-game winning streak. One frantic five-minute stretch of the first period later, they were staring at a three-goal hole and wondering where the night went.

Matt Boldy, Maxim Shabanov and Danila Yurov scored in a 5:07 span of the opening period, the penalty kill went a perfect 5-for-5, and the Minnesota Wild held on to beat the Golden Knights 4-2 on Monday night at Grand Casino Arena. Quinn Hughes had two assists to stretch his season-opening point streak to six games, and Jesper Wallstedt made 21 saves.

The Five-Minute Avalanche

The first 11 minutes were scoreless. Then Boldy broke it open at 11:50, collecting his own rebound after his first shot clipped a Vegas defender in the slot, with Olli Maatta and Hughes picking up the assists.

Less than three minutes later, Dylan Coghlan went off for tripping, and the Wild needed 17 seconds to make Vegas pay. Shabanov fired through traffic from the top of the right circle at 14:32 for his second goal of the season, and NHL.com noted it was the first power-play goal of his career. Per the AP, it also meant Minnesota had scored on the power play in each of its first six games, tying a franchise record.

At 16:57, Bobby Brink found Yurov all alone at the back door, and Yurov buried it for 3-0. The secondary assist went to rookie Rieger Lorenz, playing his second NHL game, for his first career point.

"When that loose puck's there, that's my job as a forechecker, to go get it. And I was lucky that Bobby made an unbelievable play," Lorenz said.

The AP pointed out that it was the second time in three games Vegas had trailed 3-0 in the first period. That is not a trend any coach wants on the whiteboard.

Vegas Claws Back, Minnesota Clamps Down

The Golden Knights did not fold. Rasmus Andersson wound up from the point and blasted a slap shot past Wallstedt at 2:37 of the second for his first goal of the season, with Tomas Hertl and Raphael Lavoie assisting.

Early in the third, at 2:36, Lorenz dropped the gloves with Jeremy Lauzon, the first NHL fight of the rookie's career, per the AP. Both players got five minutes. Then Vegas found a real crack at 9:25, when William Karlsson finished a 2-on-1 with Brett Howden from the high slot to make it 3-2. Mitch Marner had the secondary assist, his 60th as a Golden Knight, and NHL.com noted no player in franchise history has reached that mark faster.

Vegas spent the next nine minutes hunting for the equalizer and never found it. Joel Eriksson Ek iced it with an empty-netter at 18:38, set up by Kirill Kaprizov, and that was the ballgame.

Turning Point: The Kill That Would Not Break

Three goals in the first built the cushion, but the penalty kill protected it. Vegas got five power plays and came away with nothing, and the AP noted the Wild actually outshot Vegas 6-1 while short-handed over the first two periods. Read that again. Over those two periods, Minnesota generated more shots down a man than Vegas did up one.

"They (the Wild) have good sticks on it," Vegas coach Ryan Craig said. "They created a few scrums tonight where they killed some clock as well. And when we found opportunity, Wallstedt was there."

The numbers back him up. Minnesota is now 21-for-22 on the penalty kill this season, which the AP called the best rate in the NHL, and its power play also leads the league at 7-for-17. When both units are humming like that, a 3-0 lead feels like 5-0.

The Wild's Top Guys Set the Tone

Hughes was a menace again, logging 22:36 and setting up two of the first three goals. NHL.com noted his six-game season-opening point streak is tied for the sixth longest by an American defenseman in NHL history and tied for second longest in Wild franchise history, one behind Andrew Brunette.

The top line of Boldy, Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek accounted for two goals and an assist, and coach John Hynes liked what he saw for a second straight game.

"I think they're making very good decisions with the puck. All three of them are extremely tenacious and hardworking," Hynes said.

Eriksson Ek played 21:23 and won nine draws. Maatta logged 25:16 with an assist and four blocked shots. Wallstedt, who per the AP has played all six games in goal for Minnesota, stopped 21 of 23 and was there whenever Vegas found a seam.

On the other side, Carter Hart made 24 saves on 27 shots. Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb summed up the problem plainly.

"We can't go down three against a team like that," McNabb said. "But we've got to do a better job managing momentum shifts and taking care of the puck at the right times."

Stats That Matter

• 5-for-5: Minnesota's penalty kill, now 21-for-22 on the season.
• 6-1: Wild shots vs. Vegas shots during Minnesota's short-handed time over the first two periods, per the AP.
• 5:07: The span of Minnesota's three first-period goals.
• 23-11: Wild shot advantage through two periods.
• 0-for-5: Vegas on the power play.

What It Means

Minnesota moves to 4-1-1 with nine points and stays perfect at home at 2-0-0. Back-to-back wins over Florida and Vegas have steadied a team that dropped consecutive games at Buffalo and Tampa Bay last week. The win came with a scare, though. Forward Nico Sturm sustained an upper-body injury late in the first period and did not return, and Hynes said he was taken to the hospital as a precaution. The Wild visit Winnipeg on Tuesday.

Vegas falls to 5-2-0 with 10 points, its four-game winning streak over, and heads to Nashville on Tuesday hoping to start games on time.

Special Teams Win Championships, or at Least Mondays

There is a version of this game where Vegas scores on one of those five power plays and walks out with a point. Minnesota simply refused to write that script. A team with this kind of special teams can survive a lot of uneven nights, and Monday was proof: the Wild spent much of the third period defending and still won by two.

"Wallstedt was there," Craig said. For Minnesota, so was everyone killing penalties.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and NHL.com; postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com.