Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 4, Golden Knights 2

The Wild defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 5 of its First Round series Monday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the game in the latest edition of the Postgame Hat Trick, powered by Xcel Energy:

1. A fruitful first period.
Beating Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in this series has been a serious chore for the Wild, who were blanked by the veteran tendy in St. Paul on Saturday night. Through four games, Minnesota had scored just four goals total.
Coach Dean Evason has preached patience and consistency, however, and that paid off in the opening 20 minutes of a crucial Game 5 on Monday night.

It took the Wild a few minutes to get a shot on goal, but the first one went in, when Kirill Kaprizov tallied his first of the postseason less than a minute after Mark Stone put Vegas on the board.
Kaprizov's goal lit a fire under the Wild, who controlled most of the second half of the period.

Zach Parise gave Minnesota the lead almost three minutes later with his first goal in his second game of the series. Then Jordan Greenway made it 3-1 late in the frame, living by the old adage of if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. He didn't score on his initial shot, or the first rebound, but pushed his third shot through Fleury to cap a three-goal period.

Facing elimination with a loss, the three-goal burst was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Wild.
2. Talbot's time.
If the first period was an opportunity for the Wild's offense to shine, the second period ... was not.
The analytics folks would tell you the middle frame was not a good one for the Wild, and they'd be right, as Vegas outshot Minnesota 22-1.
But they don't decide games based on the shot chart, they are figured out in the goals column, and for all those shots the Knights had, just one slipped behind Cam Talbot, who was unbelievable in the second to keep Minnesota ahead.
The only shot to evade Talbot in the period came on a power-play blast by Alec Martinez that the Wild goaltender had little chance on.
For everything else, he was rock solid, fantastic, clutch ... pick your praise, because they all fit like a glove.
Talbot was marvelous all night long for Minnesota, finishing the game with 38 saves.
3. Live to fight.
The victory brings this best-of-7 series back to St. Paul for Game 6, and adds some intrigue to what seemed like a series, at least from a momentum standpoint, that was heading the wrong way for the Wild.
Both teams will fly back to Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday night's Game 6 will again be a must-win for the Wild, who despite the two losses on home ice in this series, have been so good at Xcel Energy Center this season. One would think the Wild is due, right?
If it can extend this series to a seventh game, anything can happen. That one would be right back here in Vegas, where the Wild has won two of the three games played.
One thing to keep in mind ... teams have rallied from 3-1 down in the playoffs 29 times since 1942. The last team to blow a 3-1 lead? The Golden Knights back in 2019.
Don't think that thought hasn't now crept into the minds of the guys who were also on that team, especially with a three-hour flight awaiting the club on Tuesday.