Live coverage: Whitecloud scores twice, Pacioretty sets team record in victory over Wild

By Justin Emerson

Published Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 | 4 p.m.

Updated Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021 | 7:54 p.m.

The Golden Knights took every punch the Minnesota Wild had to offer Sunday night, and came out on top of one of the most exciting games of the season.

Zach Whitecloud had a pair of goals, Max Pacioretty set a team mark for most consecutive games with a goal, and the much-maligned special teams were terrific in a 6-4 victory over the Western Conference-leading Wild on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas took a 4-3 lead into the third period and saw it disappear in a bizarre way. It appeared that Jared Spurgeon's shot was going wide, but Robin Lehner tried to glove it down and chaos ensued. It tipped off his glove and into the crease, where Marcus Foligno was there to jam it past a diving Lehner and even the score 1:22 into the frame.

Vegas restored the lead, the fourth time it led by a goal, soon after on the power play. The man advantage took just eight seconds, as Mark Stone was there to jam home Max Pacioretty's rebound and put Vegas on top 5-4 at the 4:42 mark of the period.

Alex Pietrangelo iced the game with 27 seconds left on an empty-netter from behind his own goal line.

The game was a wild one from the jump. Zach Whitecloud had his second two-goal game of the season and his career, and Pacioretty scored his 10th goal in as many games, setting a team record with goals in six straight along the way. Pacioretty and Stone each had three points, and Chandler Stephenson set a career-high with four assists.

Vegas had leads of 1-0, 2-1, 4-3 and 5-4, and even trailed 3-2 nine seconds into the second period.

Fresh off a two-game stretch where the special teams were dismal, they were the difference in the game Sunday. The power play, ranked as one of the league's worst, connected on two of its four chances, including Stone's game-winner in the third. And the penalty kill, which had allowed five goals in the last two games, did allow one, but killed off the other five including a 5-on-3.

Vegas finished with a 35-27 lead in shots on goal.

Golden Knights lead Wild after frantic second period

The Golden Knights gave up a goal nine seconds into the second period and spent a third of it killing penalties and somehow ended the frame with the lead. Zach Whitecloud and Max Pacioretty each scored, and Vegas took a 4-3 lead over the Minnesota Wild into the second intermission at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

The period couldn't have started much worse for the Golden Knights. The Wild won the opening draw and rushed down the ice, and Nick Bjugstad fired the puck over Robin Lehner's shoulder to give Minnesota its first lead of the game, just nine seconds into the period.

Including the last-second goal to end the first, the Wild flipped a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead in just 10 seconds of game time.

The Golden Knights answered right back, thanks to another beauty of a shot from Whitecloud. The Vegas defenseman picked the corner in first period for his first goal of the game, then pulled off virtually the same play in the second. Evgenii Dadonov slid him the puck behind the back and between his legs, and Whitecloud had plenty of space to ready his shot and snipe it.

It was his second of the game, the second two-goal game of his season, and it tied the Golden Knights with the Wild 3-3 at 5:46 of the second.

Whitecloud may be on a hot streak, but Pacioretty's is even hotter. He broke loose to go one-on-one with goalie Cam Talbot and didn't miss, firing in his 10th goal in his 10th game this season to give the Golden Knights back the lead at 13:52. It was the sixth game in a row he scored, setting a team record.

The rest of the period was basically the Golden Knights killing penalties, and doing so well in face of their slumping short-handed unit. Vegas took four penalties in the final eight minutes of the period, including going down to 5-on-3 for 1:17, a stretch where it allowed just one shot on goal.

In total, the Golden Knights spent almost seven minutes short-handed in the second, allowed six shots, but not a goal.

Vegas led 29-21 in shots on goal after two periods.

Golden Knights allow last-second goal, tied with Wild after 1

The Golden Knights looked like the better team for much of the first period. But a last-second goal by the Minnesota Wild erased any good feelings the team built up, and the sides went to the first intermission in a 2-2 tie at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Mark Stone didn't get an assist on the Golden Knights' first goal, but he made it happen. Stone made a slick play at the Minnesota's blue line to prevent the breakout, then to keep the zone by getting it over to Chandler Stephenson, who in turn got it to Max Pacioretty. The quick puck movement left no one to cover Zach Whitecloud at the point, who pinched, colleted Pacioretty's feed and fired it into the net at 8:53 for a 1-0 lead.

Vegas killed the its first penalty of the game with ease, and avoided another one soon after only because the Wild scored on a delayed penalty. The Golden Knights hindered the Wild entering the offensive zone late in the frame, and instead of getting a power play, Alex Goligoski found the back of the net with 6:06 to go to tie it 1-1.

Special teams were a mixed bag for the Golden Knights, but at least the power play converted. Evgenii Dadonov stationed himself in the slot and didn't miss his chance, burying the feed from Chandler Stephenson for his eighth of the season and second with the man advantage. Stone picked up the primary assist on that one, running his point streak to eight games.

Vegas almost got out of the first period without a power-play goal allowed, but Mats Zuccarello beat the buzzer with 0.7 seconds to go. Robin Lehner made the first save, but the rebound kicked out to Zuccarello and the net was wide open.

Lehner was pulled from his last start after allowing three goals on 10 shots. Including the first period, he's allowed five goals on his last 18 shots faced.

Vegas led in shots on goal 14-8 in the first.

Golden Knights, Wild set for heavyweight bout at T-Mobile Arena

The rematch of last year's first-round playoff series could feature some fireworks tonight.

The Golden Knights are finding their groove, as they have won of three of their last four games and are dominating teams at 5-on-5. They're healthier than the last time the Minnesota Wild came to town, and both teams are close to full strength.

The Wild are also dominating teams this year. They have the best record in the Western Conference and just had an eight-game winning streak snapped last night. It'll be a heavyweight clash at 6 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

"We know it's going to be a challenge for us tonight, but I think if we play the right way and play our game we'll be good for tonight," Vegas forward Michael Amadio said. "When we have full confidence in ourselves and we're playing the right way, playing on the right side of the puck, I think everyone gets behind each other and we keep rolling on from there."

The Golden Knights got the better of the Wild in their last meeting, a 3-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena in November that at the time was one of their most impressive efforts of the season. The way the Wild are playing since that point, picking up another victory would be even more impressive.

Minnesota is led, as it has been since his arrival last season, by Kirill Kaprizov. The second-year Russian phenom has picked up where he left off from last year's near-unanimous selection as the Calder Trophy winner as Rookie of the Year in leading the Wild with 22 assists and 32 points. Both totals that would also lead the Golden Knights.

But the dangerous thing about this year's Wild is their ability to spread the scoring around. They have four double-digit goal scorers and their two leaders, Ryan Hartman (13) and Marcus Foligno (12) play on different lines.

"We know this team, so you're going to have to defend really hard around your net, you're going to have to get inside of their net, you're going to have to handle their key guys," coach Pete DeBoer said. "We know them, so we know what we have to do."

The Golden Knights are coming off a game that left a bad taste in their mouth. They man-handled the Flyers at 5-on-5 in Friday's loss, but two power-play goals allowed, compounded with the three allowed on Wednesday against Dallas, has a normally strong short-handed unit reeling.

Throw in that the power play remains among the league's worst this season, and Vegas would be more than happy to get through tonight's game without either side seeing the penalty box.

"There's a bit of history now, right, after last year playing these guys quite a bit," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "Regardless of what happened last game, I think this would be a game that both teams are going to be ready for."

Robin Lehner is expected to start in net for the Golden Knights, looking to turn around what has been a rough go of things lately. He was pulled in the second period from his last start (Wednesday against Dallas), and has allowed 30 goals in his last nine outings with an .889 save percentage. According to advanced stats site Evolving Hockey, he's allowed minus-5.24 goals saved above expected.

Cam Talbot will start in net for the Wild. He took the loss against the Golden Knights in their last meeting, making 32 saves on 35 shots.

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-150, Wild plus-300; over/under: 6 (minus-120, EVEN)

Golden Knights (15-11-0, 30 points; 5th place, Pacific Division)

Coach: Pete DeBoer (third season)

Points leaders: Chandler Stephenson (22)

Goals leader: Jonathan Marchessault (11)

Assists leaders: Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore (14)

Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (3.10 GAA, .906 save percentage)

Wild (19-7-1, 30 points; 1st place, Central Division)

Coach: Dean Evason (third season)

Points leader: Kirill Kaprizov (32)

Goals leader: Ryan Hartman (13)

Assists leader: Kirill Kaprizov (22)

Expected goalie: Cam Talbot (2.59 GAA, .920 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Max Pacioretty—Adam Brooks—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark—Nicolas Roy—Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier—Keegan Kolesar—Michael Amadio

Defensemen

Nicolas Hague—Alex Pietrangelo

Ben Hutton—Shea Theodore

Brayden McNabb—Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit