McCarron has goal, assist in debut, Wild defeat Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Michael McCarron scored and had an assist in his Minnesota Wild debut, a 4-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

McCarron was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

“I was nervous. I had a turnover into a breakaway, so it wasn’t a great first [shift] for me. After that, I got going a little bit,” McCarron said. “It felt good to get a couple of points there. It’s not necessarily what I was brought in here to do but feels good to be rewarded.”

Mats Zuccarello and Zach Bogosian scored for the Wild (37-16-10), who have won two straight and eight of 10. Filip Gustavsson, who is 9-1-1 in his past 11 starts, made 29 saves.

“The game had a lot of momentum swings,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “We carried some play, and then they carried some play. They had some good looks and things like that, but we got big stops when we needed them for sure, and that’s what you need from your goaltender. It’s nice to see ‘Gus’ get some consistency back in his game and play at a high level.”

Pavel Dorofeyev had a goal and an assist, and Mitch Marner scored for the Golden Knights (29-20-14), who have lost four of their past five. Akira Schmid made 20 saves.

“It’s a lot of the same, right? We get behind. We have a bad stretch. One becomes two, becomes three,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We should be better than that. We’re more of a veteran group.”

Zuccarello put the Wild up 1-0 at 5:18 of the second period, scoring on a breakaway after a Noah Hanifin turnover with a wrist shot over Schmid's glove that went bar down.

Bogosian pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:07 with a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle that beat Schmid to the blocker side.

McCarron scored to extend it to 3-0 just 18 seconds later at 8:25. Brock Faber sent a wrist shot on net from the right point, and McCarron tipped it in as he battled in front.

“Just throw it there and let him make a play. That’s obviously a big boy, and he showed he’s got skill to go with it,” Faber said. “He played great. That’s a really, really big add for us.”

Dorofeyev cut the deficit to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 2:17 of the third period, roofing a backdoor pass from Jack Eichel over Gustavsson's glove from in tight for his team-leading 30th of the season.

Vladimir Tarasenko made it 4-1 at 15:42 when he finished a 3-on-1 rush with a wrist shot through Schmid's five-hole from the left circle.

“We’re rewarded for a good forecheck. Then obviously, Tarasenko finds the back of the net for me on the assist,” McCarron said. “It’s just playing hard for the team and making sure we get the win.”

Marner deflected Dorofeyev's centering pass in from the top of the crease for the 4-2 final at 16:55.

“We’ve got to build on the things we’re doing well,” Eichel said. “The things that are costing us games, just try and clean up a little bit. There was a lot to like about our game tonight. But at the same time, we live in a results-based League and weren’t able to find a way to win. That’s the difference.”

NOTES: Hynes earned his 400th career win as an NHL coach. ... Forward Bobby Brink had one shot on goal in 13:28 of ice time in his debut with the Wild after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the day. ... Minnesota also acquired forward Nick Foligno from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. ... Forward Nic Dowd made his debut with the Golden Knights after being acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Thursday. He had one shot on goal in 13:17 of ice time.