Joel Eriksson Ek scored the goal in the third period, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves as the Minnesota Wild edged the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Saturday night.
With the win, the Wild became the first team to sweep a two-game series in Las Vegas this season, bouncing back after two losses in San Jose earlier in their road trip.
“Everyone knew we had more to give after those games in San Jose,” said Talbot, who also manned the net during Minnesota’s shootout victory over Vegas on Thursday. “Tonight was one of our more complete games. We stayed strong in the third period. It’s a big character win and two important victories in this building.”
Talbot has been one of the NHL’s hottest goaltenders since March 12, posting a 6-1-1 record with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .948 save percentage.
Kirill Kaprizov netted the equalizer early in the third period with a well-placed pass from Eriksson Ek through traffic, setting up the rookie for his 14th goal of the season. Just 55 seconds later, Eriksson Ek scored the eventual game-winner, knocking in his own rebound through Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads.
“We had chances throughout the game, and we just stuck with it,” Eriksson Ek said. “Being near the net is how you score. Kirill was calling for the puck, so I got it through to him, and I just stayed with it on my goal. Luckily, it went in.”
Fleury, who has historically struggled against Minnesota, dropped to 6-13-0 in his career against the Wild. He has now lost four of his last five starts, grappling with rebound control throughout this game. Despite several impressive stops, his issues with second-chance saves caught up with him in the third period.
“We weren’t sure we’d get one by Fleury — he was playing so well and looked locked in,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “We just needed that break.”
Fleury made 25 saves, while Tomas Nosek scored the only goal for Vegas, which now faces its first three-game losing streak of the season (0-2-1).
Nosek’s goal came after a fortunate bounce off the boards, with Nic Roy acting as a decoy as the puck slid to Nosek, who backhanded it past everyone for his fifth goal of the season. Nosek has been on a roll, notching at least one point in eight of his last 10 games, with three goals and six assists during that span.
The Golden Knights, undefeated at 15-0-0 when leading after the second period, saw their 23-game winning streak in such situations snapped. This is the first time Vegas has lost three consecutive games since Peter DeBoer became head coach in January 2020.
“We’ve got to be comfortable in these tight games,” DeBoer said. “The playoffs are approaching, and everyone is locking in on those playoff-style details.”
DANKE SCHOEN
Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton, known as Mr. Las Vegas, was in attendance for his 79th birthday, donning a gold jersey.
POWER PLAY WOES
Vegas continues to struggle on the power play, going 0-for-7 during their two games against Minnesota. The Golden Knights, ranked 25th in the league with a 17.9% conversion rate, are now 0-for-10 in their last three games.
FLEURY CHASING MILESTONES
Fleury remains at 483 career wins, just one shy of tying Ed Belfour for fourth on the all-time wins list. With four shutouts this season and 65 overall, he also remains one short of tying Patrick Roy, his childhood idol, for 15th on the all-time shutouts list.
UP NEXT
- Minnesota: Returns home to face Colorado in a two-game series starting Monday.
- Vegas: Travels to St. Louis for a two-game set beginning Monday.
