Wild defeat Golden Knights in Game 5, avoid elimination

LAS VEGAS -- The Minnesota Wild avoided elimination with a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

Rookie Kirill Kaprizov scored his first Stanley Cup Playoff goal, and Cam Talbot made 38 saves for the Wild, the No. 3 seed in the Honda West Division.
"The guys believed," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "The looks we were getting, the goals we scored tonight, that's what we've talked about. We just have to believe in that. The guys did persevere, and it's something that's inside them. It's a standard they have set for themselves that they don't panic, and we didn't do that tonight."
Mark Stone and Alec Martinez scored for the Golden Knights, the No. 2 seed, who won the previous three games. Marc-Andre Fleury made 10 saves.
"I thought we played a pretty solid game," Stone said. "We had lots of chances and could've easily tied that game up, or could've easily been ahead. … If we capitalize on a few chances, I think we're sitting here with a different outcome."
Game 6 of the best-of-7 series is at Minnesota on Wednesday.
Stone gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 8:14 of the first period with a shot from the left face-off circle.
Kaprizov tied it 1-1 at 9:06 with a one-timer off a pass from Mats Zuccarello that ended a 120:34 goal drought for Minnesota, which lost 4-0 in Game 4 at home Saturday.

Zach Parise gave the Wild a 2-1 lead at 11:57 when he banked the puck in off Fleury on the rebound of Jonas Brodin's shot from the point.
Parise was a healthy scratch the first three games of the series. It was his first goal in 12 games dating to April 17.
"There's a lot of emotion behind that one," Parise said. "I was happy to see that one go in and give us a lead at the time. It just felt good at that time."
Jordan Greenway scored on his own rebound at 16:34 to make it 3-1.
"We can't be down 3-1 after the first period," Stone said. "It finally cost us. We've been down a couple games and been able to claw our way back, but today just couldn't get it done."

Martinez cut it to 3-2 when he scored on a power play at 9:43 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle.
The Golden Knights outshot the Wild 22-1 in the second period.
"I think if you replay that game nine times out of 10, you probably win. We didn't tonight," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "I think if anybody had said at the start of the series we're going to give you an opportunity to go into Minnesota in Game 6 and win the series, and Game 7's going to be at home, we would have taken that.
"We've worked to put ourselves in a good spot. We had an opportunity tonight. We worked hard, didn't get it done. We'll regroup and look to get it done in Game 6."
Nico Sturm scored into an empty net with 39 seconds left for the 4-2 final.
"Guys are committed. They're committed to each other," Evason said. "The vibe that they had and the feeling they had towards each other, we knew we were going to have the effort we had. Definitely proud of the group with that."
NOTES: The Wild had not scored since Joel Eriksson Ek gave them a 2-0 lead at 8:30 of the first period in a 5-2 loss in Game 3 on Thursday. … Minnesota defenseman Calen Addison had an assist on Greenway's goal in his NHL playoff debut. It was his first point in the NHL; the rookie did not have a point in three games in the regular season. … It was Greenway's first NHL postseason game-winning goal. … Talbot's 38 saves were the second-most by a Wild goalie facing elimination (Manny Fernandez, 43 saves against Colorado Avalanche, Game 7 of 2003 Western Conference Quarterfinals). … Kaprizov is the third rookie to score with Minnesota facing elimination (Sturm, against Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 of 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers; Erik Haula, against Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6 of 2014 Western Conference Second Round). … Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty (undisclosed) missed an 11th straight game. … Vegas forward Tomas Nosek (undisclosed) was out of the lineup for a fourth consecutive game.