What a night it was for the State of Hockey.
The Minnesota Wild got out to an early lead in front of their home crowd at the Xcel Energy Center and they never relinquished it, thanks to the incredible play of goaltender Filip Gustavsson, earning a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
Minnesota was paced by a pair of goals from Kirill Kaprizov, and Matt Boldy also potted his fourth of the series on Thursday as the Western Conference Wild Cards won their second straight game.
While Kaprizov and Boldy continue to light the lamp, Golden Knights star Jack Eichel — who set a record for the most points in a regular season for the Golden Knights this year, with 94 — has yet to register a point in the post-season.
Let’s take a look at some key takeaways from Game 3, which saw Gustavsson make 30 saves in the winning effort.
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Kaprizov’s run continues
The Wild winger is scoring at a more than goal-per-game clip, and he opened the scoring Thursday on the power play with an individual effort. Kaprizov carried the puck around the net and floated out to the point, then fired a well-timed and perfectly placed wrister through traffic and past Vegas goalie Adin Hill.
That set the crowd off, and Kaprizov fired up his fists and roared right along with them.
Goal No. 2 for the winger came with little more than a second left in the second period, again on the power play, when Ryan Hartman took a quick look at the clock and saw time expiring, and immediately fired the puck near the net. Boom, it hit Kaprizov’s arm and rolled right into the net.
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Kaprizov pumped his arms up at the glass as he looked at the crowd, and this game was 4-1, Minnesota.
The 27-year-old now has four goals and three assists in this opening-round series. Also worth noting: Kaprizov had a blade replaced in the second period after his was knocked out following a shot block. He’s doing it all for the Wild.
Thursday was Kaprizov’s second straight game with two goals.
Momentum shift No. 1
The Golden Knights did get back into this game a couple of times, and the first came early on for a team that needed to get something cooking following a quick two-goal start from the Wild.
Midway through the first, shortly after Vegas killed a penalty, defender Alex Pietrangelo got his team on the board, tearing up the right wing and ripping a slap shot on the rush that beat Gustavsson five-hole and cut Minnesota’s lead to one.
Vegas had life again.
Boldy’s power play
Matt Boldy had an incredible individual effort that turned a forecheck into a goal within a matter of a couple of seconds, and restored Minnesota’s two-goal lead.
In the second period, the winger made it 3-1 Minnesota when he tore down the ice and forced a turnover behind Vegas’ net, then picked up the puck, brought it out front, took it backhand, forehand, and then beat Hill on the short side with a wrist shot, just like that.
Boldy also had an assist on Kaprizov’s opening goal.
Vegas claws back
It was 4-1 in the third period when Vegas pulled back within two, thanks to Reilly Smith, who converted on a two-one-one while shorthanded to give Vegas life again.
Not long after that, the Golden Knights drew a penalty. Gustavsson made a monster glove save on Eichel and another big one in close on Tomas Hertl in the slot to preserve Minnesota’s lead.
Another Vegas power play followed soon after, with fewer than four minutes to go, and Vegas pulled Hill to give them the six-on-four advantage. Gustavsson faced a barrage of shots, and made another big save on Eichel, and then perhaps his biggest of the game, kicking out his left pad to stop Mark Stone in close.
Marcus Foligno found the empty net to seal the win for the Wild in the State of Hockey.
Game 4 is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, when Vegas will try to even this series before it heads back to Sin City.
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