Video Credit: NHL

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs. Wild- Game 52

Franchise Sports Media

 

Following a last-minute collapse on Monday night, the Vegas Golden Knights came into Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild with plenty of fiery passion.

 

Golden Knights vs Wild
Photo Credit: NHL

The Golden Knights were given a powerplay early on in the game as Carson Soucy was called for high sticking against Jonathan Marchessault but were unable to open up the scoring early. The Wild were given their first chance on the man advantage about five minutes later but the VGK penalty kill unit was able to kill it off, Minnesota has been operating at a 40% conversion rate on the powerplay since April 1st so getting the early kill was huge.

With 10:16 remaining it became obvious that both teams were cognizant of how meaningful this game was as emotions boiled over and there was a big scrum along the boards. Multiple players were sent to the sin bin but the Wild were given another powerplay as Vegas had to send an extra man to the box for reasons I am not sure of. The VGK penalty kill unit came through again but emotions ran high for the rest of the period. With 3:07 remaining Nic Hague got into the first fight of his career squaring off against Marcus Foligno in a bout that saw both players connect with some solid right hands.

Coach Pete DeBoer was livid with the call to send both players to the box as it looked like Foligno skated out of his way to challenge Hague, after watching the replay I would say I understand his frustration. After DeBoer lit the officials up with a verbal onslaught, Peyton Krebbs was sent to the penalty box to serve a bench minor. No goals were scored as time wound down but Brayden McNabb did land a huge punch on Ryan Hartman and it became clear that the level of physicality was not going to die down anytime soon, I loved it.

 

The second period settled down in terms of fights and scrums but the intensity was still there and a goal was finally scored.

 

The Vegas Golden Knights finally broke through on the scoresheet eight and a half minutes into the game after Mattias Janmark pickpocketed Matt Dumba before finding Chandler Stephenson by the right circle. Once Stephenson had the puck on his stuck he sent home a beautiful shot to beat Cam Talbot and give VGK the first lead of the game. With 5:25 remaining Vegas was given a chance to widen their lead after Marcus Foligno was called for holding on Mattias Janmark, but the powerplay unit could not convert and the game went into the final intermission with the score still 1-0 in the Golden Knights favor.

The third period was a dramatic one as the lead changed hands a few times before having to be decided in overtime.

 

Golden Knights vs Wild
Photo Credit: Knights On Ice

VGK continued to play well in the first ten minutes of the period but sometimes one game-changing player can change all of that in a short amount of time. With 8:46 remaining Kirill Kaprisov tied the game with a tap in goal catching Fleury after he had sprawled out in a save attempt, but he wasn’t done quite yet. Just 2:10 later Kaprisov scored his second goal of the game to give his team the lead as he picked up a puck right off the faceoff and immediately span and shot it, catching Fleury off guard as the puck sailed past him and in.

The Golden Knights continued to fight through and were rewarded with one last powerplay after Mats Zuccarello hooked Jonathan Marchessault. After going 0-2 on the night, the special teams unit finally came through after William Karlsson found a wide-open Reilly Smith who shot the puck into a wide-open net to tie the game up. Time expired with the score remaining the same and both teams moved on to overtime to finish out the night. After having a puck misfire off his stick just moments before, Alex Pietrangelo scored the game-winner 1:54 into overtime thanks to a great play by Alex Tuch to find him wide open on the left side of the net. VGK improved to 3-5 against the Wild this season and earned a crucial two points to stay on top of the standings in the Honda West division.

 

Looking Forward: 

 

VGK was tested heavily in their past two games against a Minnesota Wild team that has seemingly had their number all season long. They showed a lot of resiliency coming back to win tonight after such a heartbreaking loss on Monday night, which is something you want to see as the road to the Stanley Cup will have to face plenty of adversity as is usual in the playoffs.

They will look to build a streak in these final few games starting with two straight against the St. Louis Blues on Friday and Saturday. The Blues have the fourth spot in the Honda West Division almost locked down and can eliminate the Coyotes with a win on Friday night so look for them to bring their A-game as they attempt to finish strong in their final games.

 

The Vegas Golden Knights will return home on Friday evening against The St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena. The puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

 

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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