The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights built an early and went on to a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Las Vegas on Friday night, clinching the final playoff berth in the Western Conference in the process.
Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson tied his career-high with four assists for Vegas (43-28-8, 94 points), which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar also scored goals and Noah Hanifin added two assists for the Golden Knights.
The win, combined with Carolina’s 5-2 victory at St. Louis earlier Friday, eliminated the Blues from playoff consideration and put Vegas into the playoffs for the sixth time in its seven-year history.
Logan Thompson finished with 25 saves for the Golden Knights, who also moved within one point of the third-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. Both teams have three home games remaining.
Marat Khusnutdinov scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota (37-33-9, 83 points.) Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 23 saves for the Wild, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
Vegas need just 8:35 to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Roy started the scoring with his first career short-handed goal at the end of a 3-on-1 break, tapping in a pass from Eichel inside the right post.
Dorofeyev followed with his 13th goal with a wrist shot from near the left faceoff dot that bounced in off Fleury’s blocker.
Eichel made it 3-0 with a power-play goal, roofing a one-timer from the top of the left circle for his 30th goal.
Minnesota cut the lead to 3-1 midway through the second period when Khusnutdinov, stationed in front of the net, redirected Brock Faber’s point shot under Thompson’s left arm.
Marchessault made it 4-1 with another power-play goal, one-timing a Stephenson pass between the hashes in the slot for his team-leading 42nd goal.
Hertl scored his 16th goal and first with the Golden Knights early in the third period to extend the lead to 5-1. Hartman then cut the deficit to three goals on a delayed penalty with his 20th goal, which deflected in off the stick of Hanifin.
Karlsson, left alone in front of the crease, answered with his 28th goal, one-timing a shot five-hole. Kolesar ended the scoring with his eighth goal.
–Field Level Media