Danila Yurov scored to finish off a first-period flurry for the Minnesota Wild, who held on for a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday evening in St. Paul, Minn.
Matt Boldy and Maxim Shabanov also scored in the first period for Minnesota, which won its second game in a row. Joel Eriksson Ek added an empty-net goal.
Rasmus Andersson and William Karlsson scored one goal apiece for Vegas, which never led. The Golden Knights lost for the first time in their past five games.
Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 21 of 23 shots in the win.
Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart allowed three goals on 27 shots.
The Wild opened the scoring with 8:10 to go in the first period. Boldy blasted a one-timer that Hart denied, but the rebound came back to Boldy’s stick and he scored on a second-chance snap shot.
Less than three minutes later, Shabanov scored on the power play to increase the Wild’s advantage to 2-0. Shabanov fired a wrist shot from the top of the left circle, and the puck hit off Hart’s blocker and ricocheted into the net.
Minnesota made it 3-0 two-plus minutes after that, which concluded a three-goal stretch within 5:07 in the back half of the first period. Bobby Brink zipped a pinpoint pass to the slot for Yurov, who buried a one-timer.
Vegas got on the scoreboard with 17:23 left in the second period. Andersson steadied the puck and fired a long-range slap shot from near the blue line for his first goal.
The Golden Knights cut the deficit to 3-2 with 10:35 remaining in the third period. On a two-on-one rush, Brett Howden flipped a saucer pass to Karlsson, who finished the job with a one-timer.
Vegas pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker in the final two minutes, but Minnesota held firm. Eriksson Ek scored an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 with 1:22 to go.
Wild forward Nico Sturm left the game in the first period and did not return after taking a puck to the right side of his head. Sturm was battling for position near the net when a teammate’s wrist shot struck him near the helmet.
–Field Level Media
