Johansson has 4 points, lifts Wild past Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Marcus Johansson had a goal and three assists for the Minnesota Wild in a 5-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

“He’s really playing with a lot of confidence,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “His two-way game has been really solid.”

Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon each had a goal and an assist, and Filip Gustavsson made 14 saves for the Wild (24-10-6), who have won two in a row and are 9-1-1 in their past 11 games.

Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights (17-9-11), who have lost five of their past six games (1-3-2). Carter Hart allowed five goals on 12 shots before being replaced in the second period by Akira Schmid, who stopped all 15 shots he faced.

“We’ve got to plug some homes [defensively],” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s five against Colorado (in a 6-5 shootout loss on Saturday), it’s [six] in Calgary (a 6-3 loss on Dec. 20), four in Edmonton (a 4-3 loss on Dec. 21). We have to start there. ... That’s an area we’ve got to be better at.”

Vegas played most of the game without forward Tomas Hertl, who was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Ryan Hartman at 2:13 of the first period.

It left the Golden Knights with only two true centers: Brett Howden and Colton Sissons.

“It’s unfortunate timing,” Stone said. “You’re down three centers but you can’t make excuses. That’s when you’ve got to play a little tougher, play more as a five-man group offensively and defensively.”

Johansson gave the Wild a 1-0 lead just 26 seconds into the game, beating Hart glove side with a one-timer from the right circle.

Boldy pushed it to 2-0 at 14:06. Johansson created a 2-on-1 rush by passing up to Eriksson Ek, who then found Boldy below the left circle, where he scored past a sprawling Hart.

“Playing with those two is a lot of fun,” Johansson said. “We’ve been clicking. We all like playing with each other, and then we work hard and just try to help each other out.”

Spurgeon scored 26 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0, roofing a wrist shot from the bottom left circle. Cassidy challenged the play for a missed game stoppage, but the call was upheld after a video review.

Brock Faber extended the lead to 4-0 at 4:32 with a shot from the right point, and Eriksson Ek made it 5-0 at 6:56 when he redirected a pass from Boldy from the edge of the crease.

“We had a good start,” Johansson said. “Once it’s 5-0, the intensity and everything changes a little bit. We stuck with it, and overall it was a good game.”

McNabb got the Golden Knights on the board at 16:50 of the second, making it 5-1 with a shot from the left circle that went in off the far post.

Stone cut it to 5-2 at 2:14 of the third period when he jammed a rebound in the crease five-hole on Gustavsson.

“You’ve got to start winning some races to the puck, you’ve got to be a little more aggressive,” Stone said. "We’re a step behind right now. We need to be a little more aggressive on plays and shut down some of their time and space.”