Blog: Golden Knights on brink of series win after Game 4 shutout of Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Golden Knights took care of business in Minnesota, winning both games at Xcel Energy Center, including Game 4 against the Wild on Saturday.

Nicolas Roy scored twice, Alex Tuch and Mark Stone scored the other the goals for Vegas, Marc-Andre Fleury pitched a 35-save shutout, and the Golden Knights won 4-0 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round series with Minnesota.

Saturday, as well as Thursday's win in Game 3, marked the only two regulation wins at Xcel Energy Center in team history.

Roy got things going in the opening period by first saving a goalie after Fleury was caught out of the crease, then scoring one on the other end on a pretty snipe, and added an empty-net goal with 1:28 to play. Tuch showed off his speed in the second, and Stone scored short-handed later in the same period as a crushing goal against the Wild.

Minnesota followed Roy's goal with a goal of its own 19 seconds later, but a challenge by the Golden Knights confirmed Wild forward Marcus Foligno interfered with Fleury and the goal came off the board. It was the second game in a row a video review erased a goal from Joel Eriksson Ek.

That was the first big swing of the game. The second was on Stone's goal as Vegas was defending a four-minute high-sticking penalty from Zach Whitecloud. It was 2-0 at the time, and a power-play goal could have given Minnesota the boost it needed to scratch back into the game.

Instead Stone showed off what makes him a possible Selke Trophy finalist as best defensive forward in the league. He took the puck away form Matt Dumba, skated around Ryan Suter and went the whole length of the ice for the goal, his third in two games. It was also the first short-handed goal of the playoffs, and Vegas has more short-handed goals than the Wild have power-play goals.

Minnesota finished with a 35-18 lead in shots on goal. The 18 shots are the fewest Vegas has ever recorded in a postseason game.

Game 5 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights have never clinched a playoff series at home.

Check back to lasvegassun.com later for more coverage and read below for live updates from the game.

Golden Knights on brink of series win after Game 4 win over Wild

The second period has belonged to the Golden Knights this series, and did again on Thursday, putting Vegas on the brink of winning the game and taking near-total control of the series with the Minnesota Wild.

Vegas scored twice in the second, improving to a 6-1 margin in the middle period, as the Golden Knights led 3-0 at the second intermission of Game 4 at Xcel Energy Center.

The second period didn't have the same high-paced action as the first did. That is until Alex Tuch turned on the jets. He's tough to stop when he gets going with a head of steam, taking a Chandler Stephenson pass and darting through the middle of the ice, between two Wild defensemen and to the net. He doesn't miss much

The Wild had their best chance of the game at the 11:32 mark of the second when Zach Whitecloud caught Zach Parise up high with a stick, sending Minnesota to the power play for four minutes. Instead of Minnesota getting back into the game, the Golden Knights may have put it out of reach.

Matt Dumba turned the puck over for the Wild, Ryan Suter lost a step and Mark Stone did the rest. The Golden Knights' captain collected the puck on the right boards in the neutral zone and went in all alone on goalie Cam Talbot, deking to the backhand, then tucking it on the forehand for a short-handed goal.

Once the Golden Knights killed off the remainder of Whitecloud's double-minor, including Marc-Andre Fleury stoning Joel Eriksson Ek on a breakaway, there was a certain aura of inevitability in the arena as the final minutes ticked down in the second period.

Minnesota led in shots on goal 22-14 through two periods.

Golden Knights grab early lead over Wild in Game 4

For the first time this series, the Golden Knights scored first and had a lead after the first period.

Nicolas Roy had a strong shift at both ends of the ice midway through the frame, and a chaotic sequence went in the Golden Knights' favor as they led the Minnesota Wild 1-0 heading to intermission at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

The Golden Knights and Wild kicked off Saturday's game with a furious pace. The first TV timeout came at the 7:36 mark, which took about nine minutes of real time to play. After William Carrier was called for roughing 11 seconds in, play went on for more than five minutes without a whistle at one point.

Then Roy turned in one of the better 200-foot efforts of the series. Marc-Andre Fleury misplayed the puck behind the net and the Wild centered to Nick Bonino looking at a seemingly empty net. Nicolas Roy hopped in front of the play to save it, then finished the play at the other end. On the ensuing break, Keegan Kolesar had a nifty play in the neutral zone to get Roy the puck, and Roy beat Cam Talbot clean with a snipe at 10:37 to put the Golden Knights up 1-0.

The next few shifts could end up eventually deciding the game. Minnesota's Joel Eriksson Ek responded with a goal 19 seconds later, but for the second night in a row Vegas successfully challenged, this time for goaltender interference, and pulled the goal off the board.

A 1-1 game turned back into a 1-0 game, and it almost became a 2-0 game an identical 19 seconds after that, with Reilly Smith having all net to shoot at after receiving a 2-on-1 pass, but Cam Talbot lunched across the crease to deny Smith with his blocker. Considering how close the Wild were to tying the game, Talbot's save to prevent them from going down by two goals could prove to be a major swing.

The Wild led 11-9 in shots on goal after the first. Vegas will have 21 seconds of carry-over power-play time to begin the second.

Golden Knights' 'Misfit Line' rolling into Game 4

The "Misfit Line" had a tough regular season against the Minnesota Wild. They're more than making up for in the first round of the playoffs for the Golden Knights.

The line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith — so nicknamed for their role on the "Golden Misfits" inaugural team — have combined for three goals and seven points in the first three games of the series, including the game-winning goal from Smith and a dagger to ice it from Karlsson in Game 3. They've found their mojo this series, and will look to help Vegas take a 3-1 lead in the series in Game 4 at 5 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center.

"We're doing some good stuff out there, so it's working," Karlsson said. "This team doesn't give you much, so you've got to work hard and we do, so it feels that everyone has a goal and we can work on that tonight."

In eight games against Minnesota in the regular season, the trio accounted for 11 points and six of the game came from Karlsson. They were outscored by Minnesota at 5-on-5 by a 4-1 margin, gave up 13 high-danger chances while generating nine, and had just under 48% of the expected goals when they were on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick.

In the playoffs that line has a 3-1 edge in goals, 7-5 edge in high-danger chances and has 62 of the expected goals.

They've also netted some of the biggest goals of the playoffs so far. Marchessault scored a tying goal in Game 2 that might have saved the series, while Smith's goal in Game 3 gave Vegas the lead it didn't surrender. Karlsson put the game out of reach in the third period.

That line is leading the way as Vegas seems to have found its groove after an overtime loss in Game 1. The Golden Knights, despite a pair of shaky first periods, have been demonstrably better than the Wild, and a win would put the series on the brink of ending and give them a chance to clinch at home in Game 5 on Monday.

"Yeah it's a big game for us, we want to go back home and have a chance to close it," forward William Carrier said. "Everyone's going to be dialed in, but it's been a really tight series so I'm not expecting anything else."

It's fair to say Vegas might not be in the position it's in without the play of its goalie. Marc-Andre Fleury has started all thee games of the series and has surrendered just four goals on 81 shots, a .951 save percentage to go along with a 1.32 goals-against average. He has saved 2.9 goals above expected in the postseason according to Moneypuck.com, second-best among all goalies.

And he is expected to start again tonight. The Golden Knights liked to alternate between him and Robin Lehner during the regular season, but Fleury has played so well it's been hard to justify taking him out of the lineup.

"That's what you want with any lineup decisions at any position is make it hard to take him out and make the decision easy on who to play," coach Pete DeBoer said. "That's all we're looking for everywhere."

The Golden Knights are 4-4 all-time in Game 4 and 3-1 when leading a series 2-1. The Wild are one of three teams this season to not have a three-game losing streak, while Vegas picked up its first-ever win at Xcel Energy Center in Game 3.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1

Series: Golden Knights lead 2-1

TV: NBC (Channel 3)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-120, Wild EVEN; over/under: 5.5 (EVEN, minus-120)

Golden Knights (2-1, West Division No. 2 seed)

Coach: Pete DeBoer (second season)

Points leaders: William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Mark Stone (3)

Goals leaders: Mark Stone, Alex Tuch (2)

Assists leaders: Nick Holden, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Chandler Stephenson (3)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (1.32 GAA, .951 save percentage)

Wild (1-2, West Division No. 3 seed)

Coach: Dean Evason (second season)

Points leaders: Five players (2)

Goals leader: Joel Eriksson Ek (2)

Assists leaders: Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway (2)

Expected goalie: Cam Talbot (2.32 GAA, .936 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Alex Tuch—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark—Nicolas Roy—Keegan Kolesar

William Carrier—Patrick Brown—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Alec Martinez—Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb—Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague—Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Robin Lehner