SAINT PAUL—For a minute there, it looked like the cardio machine the Vegas Golden Knights have transformed themselves into over the past season or so was about to switch back on.
However, it was ultimately not to be, as the Golden Knights started out a quick back-to-back road trip on the wrong foot with a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
While the Golden Knights started the game strong, a failed power play would begin a tilting of the ice in the other direction.
Shortly after the man advantage expired, the Golden Knights were dealing with a disadvantageous scenario with Rasmus Andersson breaking his stick. Wild forward Matt Boldy would catch Noah Hanifin looking for the puck, giving him a couple of free opportunities that eventually got past Carter Hart.
From there, the deluge began. The Wild would not make a mistake on their power play, as Maxim Shabanov’s shot squeaked by Hart to add to the Minnesota lead. It was quickly followed by Danila Yurov getting a clean look on a cross-ice pass, and the Golden Knights found themselves down 3-0 in the span of just over five minutes.
Despite the Wild dominating the second period in terms of opportunities, the Golden Knights would manage to find some life.
Getting some redemption for what was a rough first period, Andersson would tee up a slapshot that beat Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt cleanly, allowing the Golden Knights to cut into the lead.
More significantly, though, was that forward Raphael Lavoie would get his long-awaited first NHL point on the secondary assist.
Needing a third period push, defenseman Jeremy Lauzon tried to ignite his team with a fight against Wild forward Rieger Lorenz.
While the decision to fight the rookie was not taken kindly to by other Wild players, it did manage the desired effect. Mitch Marner would find Brett Howden with a clean breakout pass to set up an odd-man rush, and Howden’s pass would find William Karlsson that allowed the center to pick up his first goal of the season and put the Knights back within one.
However, the luck would run out before an equalizer was found, as broken sticks from Brayden McNabb and Karlsson would lead to Joel Eriksson Ek icing the game in favor of the Wild with an empty-net goal.
Hoping to get off to a faster start, the Golden Knights face a quick turnaround as the annual Frozen Frenzy sees them taking on the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.