LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights had much more space to spread out in between shifts than the Minnesota Wild, but their bench wasn’t bigger.
They just had fewer players.
After its manpower was sapped by a suspension and injury, Vegas didn’t have enough cap space to add the reinforcements the team needed to ice a complete lineup.
Instead, the Golden Knights dressed just 10 forwards – a shorthanded attack that that the Wild finally outdueled 3-2 in a shootout Thursday at T-Mobile Arena to snap a two-game slide.
Kevin Fiala scored the decisive goal in the shootout, this after a scoreless overtime period that included a Vegas power play after Joel Eriksson Ek was called for goaltender interference after colliding with Robin Lehner.
Cam Talbot totaled 35 saves and was perfect against all three Vegas attempts in the shootout; Lehner also had 35 stops.
This was the second game in as many nights for both teams, but the Wild is in better shape than the Golden Knights.
Not only was Vegas without Chandler Stephenson, who was suspended three games for an elbowing incident the previous game against Los Angeles, but the Golden Knights were also missing an injured Ryan Reaves.
And since they didn’t have enough cap space to make call-ups for those players, they dressed just 18 players (16 skaters) instead of the usual 20.
But that didn’t slow Vegas down early.
Just 3 minutes, 29 seconds into the first period, William Karlsson pounced on a loose puck and wired it past Talbot.
The Wild, looking to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season, responded just a few minutes later when rookie Kirill Kaprizov redirected in a Jordan Greenway pass from the corner at 7:57 for his second goal in as many games. Kaprizov has three goals and two assists in his last five games, and he continues to lead the Wild and NHL rookies in goals (13) and points (30).
That score didn’t change in the second period, with both teams blanking on a power play.
Still, the chances were there for the Wild and Golden Knights to grab the lead. Odd-man rushes were on repeat and while the Wild had trouble converting its looks into shots, Talbot kept out Vegas’ opportunities.
Actually, the entire period was a highlight reel for Talbot.
His best stop of the season came after he slid across in time to glove down a puck off Keegan Kolesar’s stick off a 2-on-1 break, a save of the year candidate.
And on the very next shift, Talbot stuck out his stick just in time to bat down another try from Kolesar – an impressive sequence that helped keep the game tied going into the third.
Not until Talbot’s view was obstructed did the Golden Knights finally capitalize again, a shot by Brayden McNabb through traffic at 1:39 of the third period. The goal was McNabb’s first since Nov.21, 2019, a span of 66 games. Vegas’ Alex Tuch and Wild defenseman Ian Cole were set up in front of Talbot on the goal.
Again, though, the Wild answered back – pulling even with Vegas on a one-timer by captain Jared Spurgeon at 5:31 during a 4-on-3 power play, his second power play goal in his past six games. The Wild finished 1-for-3 with the man advantage, and the Golden Knights went 0-for-4.
Spurgeon’s goal was set up by Fiala, who extended his season-high point streak to four games, and Kaprizov. As a result, he tied Kurtis Foster for the most multi-point games in a season by a Wild rookie with seven.
Kaprizov also became just the third Wild rookie to hit 30 points in a season, joining Marian Gaborik and Filip Kuba. The 23-year-old also became the eighth rookie in the past 10 seasons to require 35 or fewer games to record his first 30 career points.