The defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights built an early lead and went on to a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Las Vegas on Friday night, clinching the final Western Conference playoff berth in the process.

Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson tied his career-high with four assists for Vegas (43-28-8, 94 points), which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar also scored goals and Noah Hanifin added two assists for the Golden Knights.

The win, combined with Carolina’s 5-2 victory at St. Louis earlier Friday, eliminated the Blues from playoff consideration and put Vegas into the playoffs for the sixth time in its seven-year history.

Logan Thompson finished with 25 saves for the Golden Knights, who also moved within one point of the third-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division. Both teams have three home games remaining.

Marat Khusnutdinov scored his first NHL goal and Ryan Hartman also scored for Minnesota (37-33-9, 83 points.) Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 23 saves for the Wild, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

Vegas need just 8:35 to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Roy started the scoring with his first career short-handed goal at the end of a 3-on-1 break, tapping in a pass from Eichel inside the right post.

Dorofeyev followed with his 13th goal with a wrist shot from near the left faceoff dot that bounced in off Fleury’s blocker.

Eichel made it 3-0 with a power-play goal, roofing a one-timer from the top of the left circle for his 30th goal.

Minnesota cut the lead to 3-1 midway through the second period when Khusnutdinov, stationed in front of the net, redirected Brock Faber’s point shot under Thompson’s left arm.

Marchessault made it 4-1 with another power-play goal, one-timing a Stephenson pass between the hashes in the slot for his team-leading 42nd goal.

Hertl scored his 16th goal and first with the Golden Knights early in the third period to extend the lead to 5-1. Hartman then cut the deficit to three goals on a delayed penalty with his 20th goal, which deflected in off the stick of Hanifin.

Karlsson, left alone in front of the crease, answered with his 28th goal, one-timing a shot five-hole. Kolesar ended the scoring with his eighth goal.

–Field Level Media