Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Vegas, Game 6

The essentials

The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
ST. PAUL -- Job one is done for the Wild as it aims to come back from a 3-1 deficit in its best-of-7 series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Minnesota scored three times in the first period of Game 5 on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, providing goaltender Cam Talbot with all the offense he would need in a 4-2, season-saving victory.
Now, the Wild will go about step two: winning on home ice for the first time in this series, a feat that would push this series to its limit on Friday night back in Sin City.
Home ice hasn't meant much so far in this series. Vegas came to St. Paul last week and won twice to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series, while Minnesota has won two of the three matchups in Las Vegas to keep alive its hopes of advancing to the Second Round for the first time since 2015.
One of the best home teams in the NHL during the regular season, it sure seems like the Wild could be due for a bounce or two at Xcel Energy Center, especially coming off a Game 4 performance where the Wild outshot the Knights 35-18, but couldn't solve Marc-Andre Fleury in a 4-0 loss.

"We talked before the game that once those breaks come our way, we hope that it'll keep snowballing into that great big ball, that we can use this momentum to go forward," said Wild coach Dean Evason. "To our group, it doesn't matter where we play. Yeah, we love playing at home, our record is good, but this time of year, it doesn't matter."
Those breaks came in bunches on Monday night.
Consider Zach Parise's first-period goal, which he banked in off the back of Fleury to give Minnesota a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
Or Jordan Greenway's goal a few minutes later that came on his second or third rebound chance of his own initial shot.
Or Talbot's masterful second-period performance, which helped the Wild escape the middle period with a lead despite a 22-1 shots disparity.

"He's been fantastic for us, not just [Monday], but all series and all season," Wild defenseman Ian Cole said of Talbot, who has a .928 save percentage in the series. "It's just more of the save from him. That's kind of like his baseline, he played fantastic.
"We liked our first period, but he was able to save us there in the second."
Now the Wild is hoping that its newfound momentum can help force a Game 7.
Mats Zuccarello assisted on Kirill Kaprizov's goal in the first period for his first point of the series. Kaprizov's goal was his first career NHL playoff goal.
Parise's goal was his first point in the series after he was scratched in each of the first three games.
Calen Addison, playing in his first NHL playoff contest, had an assist on Greenway's goal. Even Nico Sturm's empty-net goal, which sealed the game with under 40 seconds to play in regulation, was his first point of the postseason.
"You need guys to get on the scoresheet to feel good about themselves and their game," Parise said. "That was a good first period for us. Hopefully it's something we can feel good about.
"I think Fleury has played really well for them all series, and for us to get three past him in the first, and at least make us feel good about heading back home to a place we've played well."
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights had to stew on the missed opportunity for a three-hour plane ride back to Minnesota on Tuesday.
Since 1942, teams have rallied from 3-1 down in a best-of-7 series 29 times. The most recent team to accomplish the feat was the San Jose Sharks, who did so against Vegas in 2019.
Fleury was stellar after a rough first period, but after allowing three goals on just 13 shots, could that be the performance that causes Vegas coach Pete DeBoer to budge on his starting goaltender?
Fleury has been outstanding in the series and all season long, but DeBoer routinely rotated Fleury and Robin Lehner when each was healthy during the regular season.
Lehner has yet to appear in the series.
Max Pacioretty and Tomas Nosek did not play for Vegas in Game 5. Pacioretty has yet to appear in a game in the series despite being a game-time decision in all five games.
Nosek was injured in the first period of Game 2 and has not played since. He has been a game-time decision in each of the past three games.
Defensemen Alec Martinez and Brayden McNabb were each listed as game-time decisions ahead of Game 5, but both played.