3 Takeaways from the Golden Knights 4-2 Game 1 win over the Wild

The last time they lost the first game of a playoff series was three years ago against this very same Minnesota Wild team in overtime. The first game of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs would not have a similar fate. Vegas takes Game 1 against the Wild 4-2 on the strength of Adin Hill, who had 18 saves for his sixth win in his last nine playoff starts.

It was a game that often resembled their three regular season contests: tight for a couple of periods, but not enough from Minnesota to get ahead in that final period. Here are my three takeaways on a "sweeter than Kit Kat bars" Game 1 at the Fortress.

Second line the offensive standard bearer for Vegas

The bulk of the offense on Sunday night flowed through the line of Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev and Brandon Saad who had two goals, two assists and a +3. Hertl opened the scoring for his first postseason goal since Game 4 of the 2019 Western Conference Finals against the St. Louis Blues (one of 10 goals and 15 points he had in that postseason).

Speaking of firsts, there was the one they call "Dorofeylgood" with his career first playoff goal off of just a…gorgeous Chelsea Gray-like fakeout from Shea Theodore. It would’ve been a whole line of firsts if Saad hadn’t hit the crossbar on his breakaway chance in the second, which would’ve been his first playoff goal since Game 2 of the West Semis in 2022 against the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s safe to say that a red-hot second line is going to be crucial, not just for success in this series but in the next one against either Edmonton or Los Angeles.

Brett Howden to the rescue in busy third period

Early on in that third, it looked like Minnesota was starting to build up momentum to make this into another overtime affair. Then Reilly Smith sparked a breakaway from behind the Golden Knights end that turned into that Howden goal, which marked the first time he’s scored in back-to-back playoff games in his career. Then came his second on an empty net power play goal that beat the final horn by two-tenths of a second left in the game; a playoff high in goals to match his career high in regular season goals.

It’s fitting that three of the four goals in this Game 1 for Vegas came from their two big breakout players this season. It bodes well for this series and for a possible next round, especially for Howden who was held to an assist and a -2 against Los Angeles and a single goal and a -1 against Edmonton.

Increase in physicality for the Golden Knights a welcome sight

Vegas had 29 hits and 25 blocked shots in the game, which you love to see at this time of year, especially against this kind of scrappy opponent. The interesting part is that the majority of each category was split on both sides of the ice: the forwards had the vast majority of the hits (20 of the 29 hits) and the blueline had the majority of the blocked shots (17 of the 25 blocked shots). This kind of distribution will do wonders going into the meat of the series, especially if it does end up going long.

Next on the Marquee:

It's back to T-Mobile Arena for Game 2 Tuesday night at 8 P.M. for ESPN/NFL Draft preview reasons (or so I can surmise anyway). As was the case Sunday night, the third period will play a massive role in the outcome of this late-night affair. If Vegas continues their dominance in the final frame (or even partial dominance as was the case Sunday night), they’re likely heading to St. Paul up 2-0. If Minnesota can somehow solve it, given how even they’ve played in the first two periods, it could easily turn into a very nervy Tuesday night. Until then…