Wild score three in first period, end Golden Knights' winning streak at four

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild scored three goals in the first period en route to a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Grand Casino Arena on Monday.

Quinn Hughes had two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt made 21 saves for the Wild (4-1-1). The top line of Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek had two goals and an assist.

“After the Florida (Panthers) game (4-1 Minnesota win on Saturday), it’s now two back-to-back games where they played really well,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “I think they’re making very good decisions with the puck. All three of them are extremely tenacious and hardworking.”

Rasmus Andersson and William Karlsson scored, and Carter Hart made 24 saves for the Golden Knights (5-2-0), who won their previous four games.

Boldy gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at 11:50 of the first period. He got his own rebound when his initial shot hit off a Vegas defender in the slot.

Hughes assisted on the play to extend his season-opening point streak to six games,  which is tied for the sixth longest such streak by an American defenseman in NHL history and lengthiest among that list since John-Michael Liles in 2010-11 (nine games).

Maxim Shabanov scored a power-play goal, shooting through traffic from the top of the right circle, to make it 2-0 at 14:32.

Danila Yurov extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:57. Bobby Brink fed Yurov, who was left alone on the backdoor.

Rieger Lorenz, a second-round pick (No. 56) in the 2022 NHL Draft, had the secondary assist for his first NHL point in his second game.

“I felt a little bit jittery in the first two shifts there,” Lorenz said. “When that loose puck’s there, that’s my job as a forechecker, to go get it. And I was lucky that Bobby made an unbelievable play.”

Andersson cut it to 3-1 at 2:37 of the second period with a slap shot from the point.

Karlsson made it 3-2 at 9:25, finishing a 2-on-1 with Brett Howden from the high slot.

“We can’t go down three against a team like that,” Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “But we’ve got to do a better job managing momentum shifts and taking care of the puck at the right times.”

Eriksson Ek scored an empty-net goal with 1:22 remaining for the 4-2 final.

The Golden Knights power play came up empty, including two chances in the third.

“They (the Wild) have good sticks on it,” Vegas coach Ryan Craig said. “They created a few scrums tonight where they killed some clock as well. And when we found opportunity, Wallstedt was there.” 

Wild forward Nico Sturm sustained an upper-body injury with 2:14 left in the first and did not return. He took a puck up high on a Jared Spurgeon shot through traffic. Sturm left the ice slowly with the help of a trainer and teammate. Hynes didn’t have a further update on Sturm postgame but confirmed he was taken to the hospital. 

“I think anytime they get those it’s precautionary and the smart thing to do, especially after what happened to Brock (Faber),” Hynes said. 

Faber sustained a skull fracture and underwent surgery after the Wild defenseman took a puck to the head in a 2-1 preseason loss to the Dallas Stars on Sept. 25.

“Actually, the rink was like dead silent when that went on,” Hynes said.

Wallstedt said, "Very, very scary. Obviously, you get flashbacks to the preseason game when that happened to Brock. Hopefully it’s not like that, but obviously very, very hard to see.”  

NOTES: Hughes’ six-game point streak to start a season is tied for second-longest in Wild franchise history. Andrew Brunette holds the record with seven (Oct. 3, 2009-Oct. 17, 2009). … Shabanov’s goal was the first power-play goal of his career. … The Wild went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill to improve to 21-for-22 on the season and ended the game leading the League in power-play percentage (41.2 percent) and penalty-kill percentage (95.5 percent). … Minnesota has scored at least one power-play goal in each of its six games this season, tying a franchise record (2010-11). … Forward Mitch Marner recorded his 60th assist with the Golden Knights to become the fastest player to reach the mark with the franchise.