After Game 1 of the Wild’s first-round playoff series against Vegas, coach John Hynes saw the energy and determination with which Ryan Hartman was playing and knew he needed to move the center up a line.

For Game 2, Hartman took over as pivot on the third line, and Hynes put playoff rookie Marco Rossi on the fourth line. Hartman had an assist a 5-2 Wild win that evened the series at a game apiece. The move paid off even more in Thursday’s Game 3, when Hartman had another assist, and Rossi scored a goal and assisted on another in 5-2 triumph.

On Saturday, Hynes made another move, this one out of necessity. With Marcus Johansson out for Game 4 at Xcel Energy Center because of a lower body injury, Hynes did some shuffling. He moved Hartman to the second line, centering Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello. Frederick Gaudreau dropped to the third line, centering Gustav Nyqvist and Vinnie Hinostroza. Rossi remained on the fourth line, centering Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau.

Hartman and Rossi produced again, but it wasn’t enough as Vegas won 4-3 on Ivan Barbashev’s goal at 17:36 of overtime to even the series at two games apiece.

Hartman’s energy and productivity was on display on Foligno’s goal-ahead goal at 1:24 of the second period. Hartman worked to control the puck at the right side of the net but couldn’t complete a pass. Undaunted, he collected the puck, circled around the zone and fired a shot that hit traffic in front of the net. The puck bounced to Zuccarello, who passed to Hartman. Goalie Adin Hill gave up a rebound on Hartman’s shot, but Foligno backhanded the puck for the goal before Hill could recover.

Hartman was involved in a key play in which Vegas took a 3-2 lead in the third period.

With Hartman and Tomas Hertl battling for position, Hertl drove Hartman to the ice and appeared to hold him there. Meanwhile, Mark Stone gathered the puck and unleashed a shot that hit Hertl and caromed in for a 3-2 Golden Knights lead at 10:03 of the third.

The Wild tied it 3-3 only 54 seconds later when defenseman Jared Spurgeon beat Hill on a wraparound.