Wild save season with 1st-period outburst against Golden Knights
The Minnesota Wild scored three goals in the first period of a playoff game for the first time in franchise history Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.
They then held on for dear life in a 4-2 win over the Golden Knights to cut their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.
Game 6 is 6 p.m. Wednesday at Minnesota.
After scoring three times on seven shots in the first period, the Wild managed just seven shots the rest of the game, including an empty-net goal by Nico Sturm in the final minute that secured the victory.
Minnesota still found itself ahead after two periods despite getting outshot 22-1 in the second.
“We liked the first period, and (goaltender Cam Talbot) was able to save us in the second and then we did a pretty decent job locking down the third,” defenseman Ian Cole said. “Obviously the second period didn’t go as planned.”
The Wild had scored just three regulation goals in the first four games before matching that output in the first 20 minutes Monday as they looked like a team desperate to stave off elimination.
After Mark Stone scored his fourth goal of the series to put the Knights ahead, rookie star Kirill Kaprizov answered 52 seconds later with his first postseason goal.
Kaprizov was playing on a reshuffled line with Mats Zuccarello and Victor Rask, a unit Minnesota coach Dean Evason had split up late in the regular season.
The move paid immediate dividends.
Their tally snapped Marc-Andre Fleury’s shutout streak at about 120 minutes and briefly opened the floodgates for the Wild.
Veteran Zach Parise, a healthy scratch in the first three games, banked one in off the back of Fleury’s back to give Minnesota its first lead since the second period of Game 3.
“There was a lot of emotion behind that one,” Parise said of the fist-pump celebration on his first goal since April 17. “I was pretty happy to see it go in and give us a lead at the time.”
Jordan Greenway followedwith his first goal of the series on a tremendous individual effort, busting into the offensive zone and knocking home his own rebound.
When the period was over, the Wild had set the team record for goals in the first period of a playoff game. They also had three goals in the first period of Game 3, but one of them was overturned on replay.
The fast starts have been a signature of the Wild. Minnesota was second in the NHL with 60 first-period goals in the regular season.
The Wild went 30-4-3 when scoring three or more goals.
“We’re not going to start dreaming about winning the series until we get it done, but this was a great first step in the process,” Cole said. “It’s the first step in a very long journey to getting this done. Now we have to win Game 6.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
