The Vegas Golden Knights looked poised to take control of the series in Game 2, but the Minnesota Wild had other plans. The Wild blitzed the Golden Knights early with a three-goal burst and never let the lead slip, rolling to a 5–2 win on the road.
Vegas’ typically reliable defensive structure unraveled in Game 2, as the Wild exposed gaps and capitalized on breakdowns, leading to a costly meltdown on home ice.
Related: Golden Knights Sneak Past Wild, Take Game 1 4-2
The Golden Knights did make it interesting, though, as at one point they only trailed by two goals, but the Wild sealed the deal late in the third period. Here’s the recap and what caused the fall, as the series is all tied up heading to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Game Recap
During the first five minutes or so, the Golden Knights were all over the Wild; they controlled offensive zone time and dominated nearly every aspect of the game. It was a picture-perfect start after a sluggish start in Game 1.
That soon changed with Matt Boldy netting his third goal of the series off a nice saucer pass from Kirill Kaprizov, a deadly duo that has already done damage in two games. Shortly after, it was Marcus Foligno and then Mats Zuccarello, and suddenly, the Golden Knights headed to the locker room down by three.
It was a disastrous start, and it never got better for the Golden Knights, with Kaprizov adding to the score early in the second period. Things got chippy during the second period, but no penalties were called.
As mentioned, the Golden Knights made it semi-interesting with goals from Noah Hanifin and Tomáš Hertl to make it 4-2, but they never got that extra push they needed.
Kaprizov would later score an empty-netter late in the third period to cap off a big win for the Wild. They will head back to St. Paul, all knotted up with the Pacific Division winners.
Game 3 will take place on April 24, with puck drop set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific time.
