Wild Take One In Vegas | Wild Wednesday
The Wild defeated Vegas 5-2 on Tuesday night after losing the first game 4-2 on Sunday. It is a huge relief to all fans as there was a very real chance the Wild would return home down 2-0 in the series, but the Wild have proved they will not make this easy for the Knights like many believed originally. The Wild have played best on the road all season long... Now it is time to prove they can do the same at home.
Top Players to Thank
Kirill Kaprizov has shown us just how vital he is to this team’s success in his first six games back, especially these last two playoff games. Kaprizov has already tallied five points in the first two games of this series – two assists in the first game and a goal and two assists in the last game. These include two of the most beautiful passes I have seen in quite some time. The first being on the first goal during Sunday’s game where he sent an across-ice pass over to Matt Boldy, setting him up perfectly for a game-tying wrister goal.
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The second one, which is even better, was during game two when Kaprizov launched a pass down the ice, six feet in the air, and had it land directly on Boldy’s stick, giving him a breakaway and the first goal of the game.
https://x.com/RussoHockey/status/1914924292799660403
“It might have been the best pass I’ve ever seen,” Boldy said in an interview after the game.
Boldy has also been exceptional in this series so far, scoring both goals in the first game and a goal and an assist in the second game.
While the Wild’s top players are doing their job, Vegas cannot say the same. Jack Eichel and Mark Stone have yet to record a point in this series and are a combined –6 through the first two games. Shea Theordore was arguably responsible for the first four goals by the Wild in Tuesday night’s game by having four turnovers that resulted in Minnesota goals.
Vegas Can Do No Wrong
The Vegas Knights were the least penalized team this season, incurring only 197 penalties during the regular season and it is certainly carrying over into the playoffs. Between the two games, the Wild and Knights have both been called for two penalties, but the most blatant penalties all went uncalled.
In game one, Freddy Gaudreau was tackled to the ice by Tomas Hertl after taking the face-off to start a Vegas power play and five seconds later, the Knights scored making it 2-1.
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Also in that game, Ryan Hartman took a blatant cross-check to the face, which resulted in a no-call as well.
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The poor officiating carried over into game two when Joel Eriksson Ek was slew-footed by Pavel Dorofeyev and there was also no call.
https://x.com/RussoHockey/status/1915108610717405650
This type of play gets most players suspended, but in Vegas’ case, they get to walk away scot-free.
Then, Kaprizov takes a sucker punch straight to the face during a scuffle in a front of the net and again, there was no penalty called.
https://x.com/spittinchiclets/status/1914917467303903637
As Kaprizov gets punched, Ek is also being taken down in a chokehold by Alex Pietrangelo.
While the Wild should have had more than two chances on the power play this series, that does not excuse how they looked in the two they did have. The Wild did not record one shot on goal in either of the two chances and they could barely maintain possession for more than just a few seconds. So, while the power plays are seemingly going to be scarce this series, the Wild will need to show a little bit more effort during them if they want to put Vegas away.
Coming Home...
Now, the Wild are back home for the next two games of the series which will be played on Thursday and Saturday. As mentioned earlier, the Wild have been terrible at home this season, so if there is any time to address this issue, it is now.
Filip Gustavsson has looked solid in the first two games, stopping 23 shots in the first game and 30 in the second. Zeev Buium did get a spot in the lineup for both games and other than a couple rookie mistakes here and there, he has looked very promising.
The Wild need to continue to shut down Vegas’ top players because while the Wild managed to still win on Tuesday, their play became extremely sloppy towards the end and Vegas had all the momentum. I sense this may be a long series, so securing at least one game at home is a must for the Wild.
Kelly Rivard
Kelly is a Minnesota native and a proud Gopher alumna who enjoys making people laugh and spending time with family. Her skills include going 5/6 on parlays, managing multiple incredibly great (fantasy) sports teams and throwing 30 mph fastballs. When she’s not at the X, Target Field or US Bank Stadium cheering on her favorite teams, you can find her pouring drinks for customers at her hometown pub.
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