Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild
· National Hockey League
Wild beat the Golden Knights 4-2 behind another stellar special teams performance
Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov also scored early for the Wild, who outshot the Golden Knights 23-11 over the first two periods — including 6-1 while short-handed.
Rasmus Andersson had a goal in the second and William Karlsson scored midway through the third period to bring Vegas within one, but the Wild defense locked in after that. Joel Eriksson Ek added an empty-netter with 1:22 left.
The Wild killed all five penalties against them and are 21 for 22 this season, the best penalty kill rate in the NHL. Their power play also leads the league at 7 for 17.
Jesper Wallstedt, who has played all six games in goal for the Wild, made 21 saves.
Carter Hart stopped 24 shots for the Golden Knights, who fell behind 3-0 in the first period for the second time in three games.
The Wild tied a franchise record with a power-play goal in six consecutive games to start the season when Shabanov's shot bounced off Hurt's blocker with Eriksson Ek running interference at the crease.
The Wild, who have played all season Brock Faber due to a skull fracture, lost forward Nico Sturm in the first period when he was hit on the side of the head by teammate Jared Spurgeon’s slap shot. Minnesota also has forward Marcus and Nick Foligno on injured reserve.
Wild rookie Rieger Lorenz, who made his NHL debut in a win at Florida on Saturday, had his first assist on Yurov's goal and his first fight against Jeremy Lauzon in the third period.
Wild: at Winnipeg on Tuesday.
See AP’s full NHL coverage here
Regular Season SeriesMIN leads series 1-0
Scoring Summary
 |
Goal | 1st Period 11:50 | Matt Boldy Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Olli Maatta (2), Quinn Hughes (6) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 14:32 | Maxim Shabanov Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Quinn Hughes (7) |
|
Goal | 1st Period 16:57 | Danila Yurov Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Bobby Brink (4), Rieger Lorenz (1) |
 |
Goal | 2nd Period 2:37 | Rasmus Andersson Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Tomas Hertl (3), Raphael Lavoie (1) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 9:25 | William Karlsson Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Brett Howden (2), Mitch Marner (4) |
|
Goal | 3rd Period 18:38 | Joel Eriksson Ek Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Kirill Kaprizov (3) |
Statistics
 VGK |
 MIN |
|
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Blocked Shots | 19 |
| 19 | Hits | 18 |
| 3 | Takeaways | 6 |
| 23 | Shots | 28 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 5 | Power Play Opportunities | 1 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 100.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 30 | Faceoffs Won | 28 |
| 51.7 | Faceoff Win Percent | 48.3 |
| 11 | Giveaways | 13 |
| 2 | Total Penalties | 6 |
| 7 | Penalty Minutes | 15 |
Minnesota Wild Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Olli Maatta, D | Out | Oct 17 |
| Jared Spurgeon, D | Out | Oct 15 |
| Nico Sturm, C | Injured Reserve | Oct 13 |
| Marcus Foligno, LW | Injured Reserve | Oct 12 |
| Filip Gustavsson, G | Injured Reserve | Oct 9 |
Vegas Golden Knights Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Parker Wotherspoon, D | Out | Oct 12 |
| Lukas Cormier, D | Injured Reserve | Sep 29 |
Game Information
Grand Casino Arena
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Attendance: 17,566 | Capacity:
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Attendance: 17,566 | Capacity:
