The Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights faced each other for the second time this season on Sunday evening, Jan. 12, in Vegas, with both teams on the second halves of back-to-backs. Their first meeting favored the Golden Knights in St. Paul, 3-2 back in December. The Wild’s injured list was the same as the previous night against the San Jose Sharks, while the Golden Knights were without Jack Eichel, who was a last-minute scratch due to illness.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 3-1 Win Over the Sharks
The goaltending battle was between Filip Gustavsson for the Wild and Adin Hill for the Golden Knights. The game started with the Wild getting on the board first, but the Golden Knights answered back, and it was another close-knit affair until the third period when the Golden Knights came out on top 4-1. This moved the Wild to a record of 27-13-4, and the Golden Knights moved to 29-11-3.
Game Recap
Both teams had chances initially, but the Wild found the back of the net first as Ryan Hartman skated in and sniped it over Hill’s shoulder. That made it 1-0 around the halfway point of the first, and Zach Bogosian assisted him. Despite some great chances for both teams, that was the only goal they had to make it through in the first, and the Wild took the lead into the second.
The second period only had one goal in store for the fans as well, but this time, it was the home team, the Golden Knights, getting on the board. Pavel Dorofeyev scored the goal on the power play, and Mark Stone and Shea Theodore assisted him in making it 1-1. The goaltenders continued to make save after save, and the second ended tied.
The Golden Knights got the first goal of the third period as Keegan Kolesar knocked in a rebound sitting in the crease to give his team their first lead. Zach Whitecloud and Nicolas Roy assisted him. The Golden Knights added another goal late in the period by Tomas Hertl to give his team a 3-1 lead; Dorofeyev and Theodore assisted him. The game’s final goal came on the power play for the Golden Knights as Dorofeyev tallied his second of the night. Stone and Hertl assisted him to make it 4-1 and took the win.
The Wild will have a few days off before a quick one-game trip at home to host the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday evening, Jan. 15. The Golden Knights will head on the road to play the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
