Jack Eichel scored a hat trick in Vegas’ fourth straight victory, and the Golden Knights swept the season series vs. the Wild.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
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The Wild never defeated the Golden Knights in the regular season, but they might not have to worry about a rematch in the playoffs.
They’re in jeopardy of falling from the first wild-card seed to the second and taking on a different Western Conference division leader in the Jets.
A 5-1 loss to Vegas Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center coupled with St. Louis’ seventh consecutive win cut the Wild’s lead over the Blues to a mere two points with 10 games left – this after the Wild had a thick seven-point cushion just two weeks earlier; they were still third in the Central Division three weeks ago.
Over their past six periods, the Wild have just one goal after getting shut out 3-0 by the Stars Monday night in Dallas while the Golden Knights rested.
Adin Hill made 23 saves, while Jack Eichel scored a hat trick in Vegas’ fourth straight victory that swept the season series (3-0) vs. the Wild.
Marc-Andre Fleury had 33 stops during his first start in eight games, what could be one of the goaltender’s final few appearances in his last season before retiring.
“Gus has been playing amazing,” Fleury said recently while Filip Gustavsson was on a seven-game run. “He’s awesome every night, and it’s giving us a chance every night. We’re playing some close, close [games], and he’s been very good, very consistent.
“I love watching him and love cheering for him.”
Still, the Wild kept challenging the Golden Knights, hemming Vegas in its own end for stints, and not until they committed their first penalty of the night (a high stick by Ryan Hartman) did the Golden Knights alleviate the pressure on Eichel’s second goal; he wired a puck by Fleury at 14:57; the Wild power play went 0-for-1.
Tanner Pearson flung the puck into an empty net 2 minutes later before Eichel completed the hat trick 2:32 to go.
Earlier this season, the Wild fell 3-2 to Vegas on Dec. 15 and 4-1 on Jan. 12. The last time these two teams squared off in the playoffs the Golden Knights prevailed in seven games during the abbreviated 2021 season.
If they were to meet up in the playoffs again, the Wild could have a different lineup by then.
They did get Jonas Brodin back on Tuesday after he sat out Monday against the Stars, with the team monitoring his return from a lengthy injury absence. Declan Chisholm didn’t play after suffering a lower-body injury on a shot block in Dallas.
Marcus Foligno missed a fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
As for Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, coach John Hynes said he anticipates both will start skating soon.
The Wild’s grueling week continues Thursday when they’ll host the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin as he gets closer to passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s goals record.
