Wild beat the Golden Knights 4-2 behind another stellar special teams performance

On Monday night, the Minnesota Wild secured a 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, thanks in large part to their exceptional special teams performance. Max Shabanov opened the scoring during the first period on a power play, followed by goals from Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov early on. The Wild dominated play, outscoring the Golden Knights 23-11 over the first two periods, including a 6-1 tally while playing short-handed.

Jenna Wallstedt, the Wild's goaltender, contributed 21 saves. Despite Vegas scoring a goal from William Karlsson midway through the third period, the Wild's defense remained resolute. Joel Eriksson Ek added an empty-netter with 1:22 left to seal the win. Throughout the game, the Wild effectively killed all five penalties called against them and lead the NHL with a penalty kill rate of 21 for 22 this season.

Their power play also stands atop the league, registering a 7 for 17 success rate. Jesper Wallstedt made 21 crucial saves for the Wild, whereas the Golden Knights' Carter Hart stopped 24 shots. In their previous two games, the Golden Knights fell behind 3-0 in the first period. The Wild's power-play goal streak, which includes six consecutive games at the start of the season, led to Shabanov's goal, where it deflected off the goalie's blocker after teammate Eriksson Ek provided cover at the crease.

Minnesota has lost forward Nico Sturm to injury, and Marcus Foligno and Nick Foligno are also currently on injured reserve lists. Wild rookie Rieger Lorenz made his NHL debut and contributed an assist on Yurov's goal and his first fight against Jeremy Lauzon in the third period. The Golden Knights are scheduled to face the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, while the Wild will be playing against Winnipeg on the same day.