Golden Knights win fourth straight to complete sweep of Wild

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Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone, left, celebrates after scoring in the third period of a game against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud (2) is at right.

Published Wed, Mar 3, 2021 (3 p.m.)

Updated Wed, Mar 3, 2021 (9:33 p.m.)

The Golden Knights knew the Minnesota Wild were a threat in the West Division when they welcomed them to T-Mobile for two games this week. Vegas took the opportunity to reassert themselves as top dog in the division.

The Golden Knights beat the Wild 5-1 on Wednesday, extending their lead atop the division. Five Golden Knights scored, and Vegas completed the two-game sweep over Minnesota.

The win marked the Golden Knights' fourth win in a row, their second such winning streak of the season.

Up by a goal, the Golden Knights needed Marc-Andre Fleury to stand tall in the third, and he did. The Wild had 14 of the first 16 shots in the period, including four in an 18-second stretch during a power-play. He finished with 36 saves, tied for a season-high.

That was enough to give Vegas a chance to add to the lead. Stone and Chandler Stephenson developed a 2-on-1 coming out of their own zone, and a game after having five assists the captain decided to bury one himself. His low shot found twine, and it gave Vegas a 3-1 lead with 8:52 remaining in the third.

Stephenson added one of his own with 3:22 remaining, a beauty of a top-shelf back-hander to put the game away. William Karlsson scored against the empty net with 2:19 to go.

Vegas jumped out to the lead 2:02 into the game, courtesy of a pretty Cody Glass feed to Alex Tuch for the finish. Tuch paid it forward in the second period, finding Jonathan Marchessault moments after the power-play in the second to put the Golden Knights up 2-0.

Minnesota got on the board two seconds before the midpoint of the second period when Marcus Foligno's shot off the faceoff trickled through Fleury and into the net to make it 2-1.

After a strong attack in the third, Minnesota finished with a 37-28 lead in shots on goal.

Golden Knights hold lead against Wild heading to 3rd

The Golden Knights and Wild turned up the heat in the second period, each lighting the lamp once and sending Wednesday's game into the third period with a 2-1 Vegas lead at T-Mobile Arena.

Technically Jonathan Marchessault's tally to start the scoring in the second will go down as even-strength goal as it came just after the penalty expired, but it was the power-play that made it happen. And after Alex Tuch was the recipient of a gorgeous pass in the first, he was the benefactor of one in the second.

Seconds after Ian Cole's hooking minor ended, Tuch threaded a pass through the slot to a waiting Marchessault in the right circle. He received the pass, paused for a moment, then put the puck to bed behind goalie Cam Talbot for a 2-0 Vegas lead at 5:03 of the second period.

The Wild were too good to just go away though. After being held to just one shot in the period for the first 12 minutes or so, they finally beat Marc-Andre Fleury two seconds shy of the midpoint. It was Marcus Foligno, his third in two games against Vegas, and it cut the Golden Knights' lead to 2-1.

William Carrier drew an interference penalty with 1:13 remaining in the period, giving Vegas 47 seconds of power-play time to start the third.

The Golden Knights led 20-16 in shots on goal through two.

Golden Knights lead Wild after a period

The Golden Knights started hot and didn't allow a goal. That's a recipe for first-period success.

Alex Tuch scored the only goal of the frame, and Vegas led the Minnesota Wild 1-0 after 20 minutes at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

The Golden Knights got out to an early lead. The Wild seemed to forget about Tuch for a moment, and he made them pay with his ninth of the season.

After Vegas gained the zone, Cody Glass fluttered a perfect back-handed pass across the ice right to Tuch's stick. Tuch had snuck in behind the defense off the right wing and lifted it over Cam Talbot and the Golden Knights led 1-0 just 2:02 into the game.

The Golden Knights almost had another with about eight minutes to play after a good play near the net by Mark Stone. He collected it and fed Max Pacioretty, who was in great position for a one-timer. Only a sliding save from Talbot kept it a one-goal game.

On the other end of the ice, the Golden Knights took the first penalty of the game, a Ryan Reaves interference. They killed that one off, as well as a Shea Theodore trip with 3:33 remaining in the first, without much trouble.

Vegas led in shots on goal 12-10.

Pregame

It's been awhile since the Minnesota Wild were known as an offensive juggernaut. The Wild have long been known as a defensive-first organization and have ranked near the bottom of the league in goal-scoring the past few years.

The Golden Knights, though, got their first taste of the new Wild in their first meeting.

Vegas allowed four goals Monday, all at 5-on-5, the most given up in a game at even strength this season and second-most allowed in a game overall. The Golden Knights have struggled to break Minnesota's defensive structure, but they'll have a new force to compete with when Vegas and the Wild clash at 7 p.m. today at T-Mobile Arena.

"I honestly think that they're way better than they were before," Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "It kind of, personally, caught me by surprise to see how good they were this year because we didn't really know what to expect because they had a lot of changes in their lineup."

The Wild are fast and dangerous with the puck, led by 23-year-old rookie Kirill Kaprisov (17 points) and 24-year-old Jordan Greenway (15 points). Forward Joel Eriksson Ek is having a breakout season with eight goals, and the team's 3.21 goals per game is decimal points off the division lead.

The defense hasn't gone away either. Minnesota boasts a dangerous blue line led by captain Jared Spurgeon, and this season the goaltending has been there too, their biggest bugaboo from last year. Kaapo Kahkonen and Cam Talbot have combined for a .916 save percentage this season.

"They were on a six-game winning streak and that's not just by fluke," forward Chandler Stephenson said. "They're big, they're heavy and they make a lot of things happen."

The Golden Knights' win Monday was big for a few reasons. It kept them atop the division, was the first third-period comeback of multiple goals that resulted in a win, and showed they could beat the Wild. Prior to Monday, Vegas was 2-6-0 all-time against Minnesota, the worst points percentage against any opponent, and won of those wins was a shootout.

Vegas looks like its going back to its usual top-six after a four-game hiatus. Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone were back together at morning skate with Chandler Stephenson between them, and the inaugural season line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith were reunited as well.

Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to make his 10th consecutive start in the Vegas net. He has a .935 save percentage this season in 13 games this year, and has allowed two goals or fewer in all but four of them.

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-145, Wild plus-125; over/under: 5.5 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (13-4-1, 27 points; 1st place, West Division)

Coach: Peter DeBoer (second season)

Points leader: Mark Stone (22)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (10)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (18)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (1.77 GAA, .935 save percentage)

Wild (12-6-1, 25 points; 3rd place, West Division)

Coach: Dean Evason (second season)

Points leaders: Kirill Kaprisov (17)

Goals leader: Joel Eriksson Ek (8)

Assists leader: Jordan Greenway (12)

Expected goalie: Kaapo Kahkonen (2.41 GAA, .915 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Alex Tuch—Cody Glass—Keegan Kolesar

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Shea Theodore—Alex Pietrangelo

Alec Martinez—Zach Whitecloud

Nicolas Hague—Dylan Coghlan

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Oscar Dansk

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