MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
All-Time Wild Record: 12-5-3 (7-1-2 at Xcel Energy Center, 5-4-1 at Vegas)
2022-23: Vegas won the series-opening game, 5-1, at Xcel Energy Center (2/9)… LW Kirill Kaparizov (1-0=0) scored the Wild’s lone goal, assisted by C Joel Eriksson Ek (0-1=1) and LW Matt Boldy (0-1=1)…G Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 18 of 23 shots against for Minnesota…G Filip Gustavsson appeared in relief and saved all eight shots faced…C Jack Eichel (1-1=2), and RW Jonathan Marchessault (0-2=2) led the Golden Knights with two points each…C Paul Cotter (1-0=1), D Alex Pietrangelo (1-0=1), C Nicholas Roy (1-0=1) and RW Rielly Smith (1-0=1) also scored goals for Vegas…G Logan Thompson saved 23 of 24 shots faced before exiting the game in the third period…G Adin Hill stopped all four shots faced in relief.
WILD LEADERS: D Jonas Brodin leads Minnesota with 12 points (3-9=12) in 18 games against Vegas…Eriksson Ek has 11 points (5-6=11) in 18 matchups… Five Wild players own 10 career points against the Golden Knights, including D Matt Dumba (3-7=10 in 18 games), LW Marcus Foligno (5-5=10 in 18 contests), Kaprizov (7-3=10 in 12 games), D Jared Spurgeon (4-6=10 in 17 contests) and C Oskar Sundqvist (6-4=10 in 13 games).
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 1-1-0 with a 3.60 GAA and a .889 SV% in two career starts against Vegas…Gustavsson is 0-1-0 with a 3.05 GAA and a .913 SV% in two career games (one start) against the Golden Knights.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS LEADERS: RW Phil Kessel (9-15=24 in 33 games) and Pietrangelo (24 points (9-15=24) in 50 games) lead Vegas with 24 points each vs. Minnesota…RW Mark Stone has 22 points (4-18=22) in 20 matches…D Alec Martinez owns 12 points (3-9=12) in 35 games.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS GOALIES: G Jonathan Quick is 17-11-7 with a 2.55 GAA, a .904 SV% and two shutouts in 35 career starts against the Wild…Thompson is 1-1-0 with a 1.69 GAA and a .951 SV% in three games (two starts) against Minnesota… Hill is 1-3-0 with a 2.51 GAA and a .901 SV in five games (three starts)…G Laurent Brossoit is 1-1-0 with a 2.06 GAA and a .929 SV% in two games (one start).
FAST FACTS: Minnesota is tied for second all-time in the NHL in points (27) and point percentage (.675) and ranks third in wins (12) against Vegas.
INJURIES
Brandon Duhaime: non-COVID illness
Kirill Kaprizov: lower body
Gustav Nyquist: upper body
Ryan Reaves: upper body
FINDING THEIR GROOVE
• Since March 1, the Wild holds a 10-1-3 record and ranks second in point percentage (.821), is tied for second with 23 points and tied for fourth in wins.
• Since Feb. 11, Minnesota is first in the NHL with 39 points (17-2-5) and a .813 point percentage while ranking tied for second in wins.
• In 10 games since March 11 the Wild has scored 4.20 goals per game, the third-best rate in the NHL during that span.
• The Wild recorded a franchise-record 14-game point streak (11-0-3) from Feb. 17 to March 15. The streak is tied for the third-longest in the
NHL this season
• Since Feb. 11, the Wild leads the NHL with a .938 team save percentage and has allowed a league-low 2.00 goals per game.
HOME SWEET HOME
• Dating back to Nov. 19th, Minnesota is 22-6-2 at home for a .767 point percentage, the most wins and second-best home point percentage in the NHL during that span.
• The team recorded a seven-game home win streak from Nov. 27 – Dec. 18, the fourth-longest home win streak in the NHL this season.
• In home games since Nov. 19, the Wild has allowed 2.10 goals per game and recorded a .927 save percentage, ranking second in the NHL in each category.
• Minnesota ranks sixth in the NHL with a .671 home point percentage this season and is sixth with 24 home victories.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• Minnesota owns an active 11-game road point streak (8-0-3), third-longest in franchise history and third-longest in the NHL this season. The Wild’s last regulation loss on the road came Feb. 8 at DAL.
• Since Feb. 23, the Wild is first in the NHL with a .938 road SV% and a 2.06 road GAA.
ON THE POWER PLAY
• The Wild has converted 26.1 percent (30 of 115) of power-play opportunities at home this season, seventh-best in the NHL.
PENALTY KILLERS
• Recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games from 2/6 to 3/2. Did not allow a power-play goal in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHL’s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season).
SHORT (HANDED) KINGS
• Minnesota is tied for third in the NHL with 11 shorthanded goals (SHG) this season.
• The total is tied for the second-highest single-season mark in franchise history behind only the 2000-01 season (13 SHG). The Wild also reached 11 SHG during the 2005-06 and 2001-02 seasons.
LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE
• Minnesota has conceded less than two goals in 27 games this season, second-most the NHL. The Wild holds a 24-1-2 record when allowing less than two goals.
• In 49 games since Dec. 10, the Wild has posted a 2.31 GA/Gm average, the second-best mark in the NHL during that span.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS NOTES:
GOLDEN KNIGHTS UPCOMING GAMES
Golden Knights 2022-23 Record: 46-22-7, 99 points (22-15-1 at Home, 24-7-6 on Road)
DATE OPPONENT TIME (PT) TELEVISION RADIO SPANISH RADIO
Apr. 1 vs. Minnesota Wild 7 p.m. AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM
Apr. 3 at Minnesota Wild 5 p.m. AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
Apr. 4 at Nashville Predators 5 p.m. ESPN Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
Apr. 6 vs. Los Angeles Kings 7 p.m. AT&T SportsNet Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM Deportes 1460 AM
Apr. 8 at Dallas Stars 12:30 p.m. ABC Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM None
GOLDEN KNIGHTS LAST GAME RECAP
March 30 – Vegas Golden Knights 3, San Jose Sharks 4 OT
The Vegas Golden Knights (46-22-7) were taken down by the San Jose Sharks (21-39-15), 4-3, in overtime on Thursday night at SAP Center. Mario Ferraro got things started for the Sharks, scoring four minutes into the first period. Oskar Lindblom then extended the lead to 2-0. Nicolas Hague cut the lead in half for the Golden Knights, making it 2-1. In the middle frame, Ivan Barbashev tied the game for Vegas, 2-2. Tomas Hertl then regained the lead for San Jose at 3-2. Halfway through the third, Michael Amadio tied things up, 3-3 to send the game into an extra session. Logan Couture potted the overtime winner for the Sharks to snag the 4-3 victory.
LAST GAME BY THE NUMBERS
- Amadio adds to his career-high season with his 14th goal of the year and the forward has goals in back-to-back games
- Barbashev scores his second power-play goal with VGK, now posting 12 points (5-7—12) in 16 games played with Vegas
- Ben Hutton finished as the point leader of the game for VGK with his first multi-point performance since 2019-20 (0-2—2)
Dancing Knights
For the fifth time in six seasons, the Golden Knights have clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With Nashville’s loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Vegas entered their contest against San Jose as the first team in the Pacific Division and the Western Conference to have its postseason spot secured
Against the Wild
The contest between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild marks the second of three this season. The Golden Knights and the Wild will complete their season series playing in a home-and-home that wraps up in Minnesota Monday. Vegas owns a record of 8-11-1 against the Wild and 5-4-1 when playing at T-Mobile Arena. The last time these two teams met, Vegas came away triumphant on their Father’s Trip with scoring from Nicolas Roy, Alex Pietrangelo, Paul Cotter, Reilly Smith (penalty shot), and Jack Eichel. Logan Thompson made 23 saves, posting a .958 save percentage before leaving the contest early due to injury.
2022-23 Season MIN Series: 1-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road: 1-0-0)
Feb. 9 – at Minnesota (Vegas 5, Minnesota 1)
Apr. 1 – at Vegas
Apr. 3 – at Minnesota
2021-22 Season MIN Series: 2-1-0 (Home: 2-0-0, Road: 0-1-0)
Nov. 11 – at Vegas (Vegas 3, Minnesota 2)
Dec. 12 – at Vegas (Vegas 6, Minnesota 4)
Mar. 21 – at Minnesota (Vegas 0, Minnesota 3)
