Follow usThe Vegas Golden Knights, defending Stanley Cup champions, secured a dominant 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Las Vegas on Friday night, clinching the final Western Conference playoff berth.
Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Pavel Dorofeyev each contributed a goal and an assist, while Chandler Stephenson tied his career-high with four assists for Vegas (43-28-8, 94 points). The Golden Knights, snapping a three-game losing streak, showcased their offensive prowess with goals from Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson, and Keegan Kolesar. Noah Hanifin added two assists to the impressive offensive display.
The win, coupled with Carolina’s earlier 5-2 victory over St. Louis, sealed the fate of the Blues, eliminating them from playoff contention and securing Vegas’s sixth playoff appearance in seven years.
In goal, Logan Thompson stood tall with 25 saves for the Golden Knights, who also closed the gap to just one point behind the third-place Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division.
Marat Khusnutdinov scored his first NHL goal for Minnesota (37-33-9, 83 points), while Ryan Hartman also found the back of the net. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for the Wild, who suffered their fourth loss in the last five games.
Vegas wasted no time in asserting their dominance, jumping out to a 3-0 lead within the first 8:35 of the game. Roy opened the scoring with a short-handed goal, followed by Dorofeyev’s wrist shot and Eichel’s power-play goal.
Although Minnesota managed to cut the deficit to 3-1, Vegas continued to control the game, with Marchessault and Hertl extending the lead. Despite a response from Hartman, Karlsson and Kolesar sealed the victory for the Golden Knights with two more goals to cap off an impressive performance.
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