Eichel’s Hat Trick Leads Golden Knights in 5-1 Victory Over Wild

The Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights faced off for the third and final time of the regular season on Tuesday evening, Mar. 25. The Wild were on the second half of a back-to-back and looked for their first win against the Golden Knights while the Golden Knights looked to make it a sweep. The Wild had Jonas Brodin back in the lineup after he missed their game against the Dallas Stars the previous evening, Monday, Mar. 24.

Related: Oettinger Records 12th-Career Shutout in Stars’ 3-0 Win Over Wild

Although the Wild had Brodin back, they still missed Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Marcus Foligno, and they added Declan Chisholm to that list as well. The Golden Knights were without Alex Pietrangelo and Tomas Hertl but had Shea Theodore back. The goaltending battle was between Marc-André Fleury for the Wild and Adin Hill for the Golden Knights. The game started in favor of the Golden Knights and although the Wild showed a bit of hope, the Golden Knights took the 5-1 victory. This moved the Wild’s record to 40-27-5 and the Golden Knights to 43-20-8. 

Game Recap

It was a quiet first period until Jack Eichel scored to put the Golden Knights up 1-0. The Golden Knights carried into the zone, and Mark Stone capitalized on a rebound that he backhanded to Eichel, who put it away. Stone and Shea Theodore recorded the assists. That was the only goal of the first, and the Golden Knights took the lead into the second. 

The Golden Knights kept things going in the second as Brett Howden knocked in a rebound from a Noah Hanifin shot that rebounded oddly off the glass behind the net. Hanifin recorded the lone assist that put his team up 2-0. Once again, that was the period’s lone goal, and the Golden Knights took the lead into the second intermission.

At the beginning of the third, the Wild found the back of the net as Marcus Johansson scored to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to one goal. Mats Zuccarello assisted Johansson. The game shifted back in favor of the Golden Knights as Eichel scored on the power play for his second of the game. Hanifin and William Karlsson assisted him and took a 3-1 lead. The goals continue to come as Tanner Pearson added an empty net unassisted goal, followed by Eichel’s third goal of the game to make it 5-1. Stone and Kaedan Korczak assisted Eichel.

This game started another homestand for the Wild, but it is significantly shorter than the last, they’ll be home for three games, compared to seven. They’ll remain at home to host the Washington Capitals on Thursday evening, Mar. 27. The Golden Knights will have a few days off before they travel to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, Mar. 28.