Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes says it’s “business as usual” for his team as it heads to Las Vegas for Game 5 of its first-round matchup with the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
The underdog Wild had a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series but suffered a gut-wrenching 4-3 overtime loss in Game 4 on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Ivan Barbashev chipped in the game-winner on a rebound in front of the crease at the 17:26 mark to tie the series at 2-all. Reilly Smith helped set up the tally, scooping up a loose puck in the left circle when defenseman Jake Middleton whiffed trying to clear the puck from his own zone.
Hynes took the glass-half-full approach afterward, saying his team was still “in a good spot” and that he “loves where we’re at.”
He might have a point, considering Minnesota had lost nine of its previous 11 meetings entering the series with the 2023 Stanley Cup champs and were swept in all three-regular season meetings this season. The Wild also needed a game-tying goal by Joel Eriksson Ek with just 22 seconds left in regulation of a 3-2 overtime win over Anaheim in their final regular-season game just to lock up a wild-card playoff berth.
After a 4-2 loss in the series opener in Las Vegas, Minnesota rebounded with impressive back-to-back 5-2 victories before Saturday’s overtime loss.
“We had an opportunity to win the game,” Hynes said. “We didn’t win the game. We had a day off (Sunday), which was very beneficial, and then we came back to work. Now it’s the best-of-three.”
“Obviously, we’d like to be 4-0 and be on the golf course right now waiting for the next round, but it’s the playoffs,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. “You expect it to be at least five, six, seven games, especially when you play a team like (Vegas) and you get some wins.”
The Golden Knights, who had one of the best home records in the league (29-9-3), were happy to return from Minnesota with a split and regain home-ice advantage for the final three games. Game 7, if needed, would be Saturday in Las Vegas.
“This was a pivotal game for our group to kind of turn it around, and kind of just get rewarded for the play that we felt like we were having,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored his first playoff goal in Saturday’s win. “This was a big game for us, and it’s good to go home.”
“It only takes one play in playoffs like this,” said forward Nicolas Roy, who assisted on Barbashev’s overtime game-winner. “It’s momentum swings, and whatever happens we stuck with it, and we found a way to get one there.”
Now it’s up to the Golden Knights to build on that momentum in Game 5.
“You can’t look ahead, you got one game in front of you,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You’ve got to go out and do your best to win it. … Now you become more singular-focused. It’s Game 5.”
–Field Level Media
