LAS VEGAS — With a chance to clinch a playoff berth on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Wild learned a hard lesson, which could end up being a blessing in disguise down the road.
Not much has gone wrong for the Wild over the past month. They seemed virtually invincible at times during a 16-1-4 stretch that helped them skyrocket up the Western Conference standings.
On this particular night, however, the Wild got a healthy dose of reality in a 4-1 loss to the Golden Knights.
Though it’d be easy to place the blame solely on Marc-Andre Fleury because he allowed a couple of goals he’d likely want back, the Wild left him hung out to dry a few too many times with some sloppy play in their own zone.
“Just little things in the game,” Fleury said. “It can turn quickly. I like that nobody quit. We always felt like we could come back and pushed hard at the end.”
The motivation from the Wild was on display in the early stages of the game as they held the Golden Knights without a shot for nearly 10 minute of play.
In the process way, Matt Boldy continued his hot streak redirecting a shot from John Klingberg to put the Wild in front 1-0. The goal itself was a perfect example of how well things are going for Boldy at the moment. He stood near the blue paint on the scoring play and inadvertently guided the puck into the back of the net.
Credit the Golden Knights for battling back after a slow start.
The spark came from Golden Knights defenseman Ben Hutton when he skated unmarked into the slot and ripped a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game at 1-1. Not long after that, Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud converted on a shot from the left circle to make it 2-1.
“Just honestly a couple small mistakes,” Ryan Reaves said. “This team feeds off of their transition. The second they turn the puck over, they tend to fly the zone and come with speed. I think a couple times we didn’t pick it up.”
That put the Wild on their heels and Golden Knights winger Brett Howden put them on the ropes early in the second period with a goal to make it 3-1. There was visible frustration from Fleury in the immediate aftermath as he narrowly missed whacking puck away in disgust.
That set the stage for the third period where the Wild made a push trying to get themselves back in the game. They simply couldn’t solve Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit.
“I liked our effort,” Marcus Foligno said. “We just didn’t capitalize on a lot chances at the end where we probably could’ve tied it up. They were opportunistic. Just a tough game.”
In the final minutes, Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson finalized the score at 4-1 with an empty-netter.
“We didn’t like our energy today,” coach Dean Evason said. “We didn’t have the pop we’ve had. It happens. Our try was there. Our energy was not.”
Briefly
Mason Shaw left the game with a lower-body injury after an awkward play behind the net. He crashed into the boards and couldn’t put any weight on his right leg after being helped to his skates. The immediate reaction from Shaw was heartbreaking as he looked like someone who knew it was pretty serious.
