LAS VEGAS — Wild rookie Marat Khusnutdinov scored his first NHL goal in a losing effort as the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights became the final team in the Western Conference to clinch a playoff spot by easily defeating the Wild, 7-2, at T-Mobile Arena.
The Wild gave up three goals in the first eight minutes and 35 seconds, and never mustered any shot of a comeback during an embarrassing night of soft play all over the ice, particularly along the walls.
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Chandler Stephenson had four assists for Vegas and Tomas Hertl scored his first goal with the Golden Knights. Thirteen of Vegas’ 18 skaters had at least a point.
Ryan Hartman scored his 20th goal for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for all seven goals and the beloved former Golden Knight was serenaded throughout with “Fleury” chants just in case this was the final time he was on the ice as an NHL player against Vegas. After the game, he may have set a record for how fast he sprinted off the ice after such a humbling evening.
- The Wild have won eight of 30 games against the nine teams ahead of them in the Western Conference standings and have lost 12 of their past 13.
- Forwards Mats Zuccarello and Freddy Gaudreau were back in the Twin Cities for family reasons. It was up for debate whether it was worth even having them join the team in California for the next two road games with the Wild’s season ending Thursday at home against Seattle.
- Matt Boldy played his 200th NHL game and Marco Rossi his 100th.
- Liam Ohgren, a 2022 first-round pick, made his NHL debut. He became the 312th player (290th skater) and 19th Swedish-born player to play a regular-season game for the Wild.
- Rookie Jesper Wallstedt, coming off a shutout in Chicago, will make his third career start Saturday night in San Jose.
Pavel Dorofeyev goes top shelf. 🚨
Stream the Golden Knights vs. Wild on Sportsnet+. pic.twitter.com/TQ5zNUv6eA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 13, 2024
Khusnutdinov scores first NHL goal
In his 13th NHL game, the 21-year-old Khusnutdinov became the 98th player to score a regular-season goal for the Wild. The fast, hard-working center redirected fellow rookie Brock Faber’s point shot on a power play to cut a 3-1 deficit to a short-lived two-goal deficit before Jonathan Marchessault’s power-play goal against former Golden Knights teammate, Fleury. Marcus Johansson quickly collected the keepsake puck for Khusnutdinov.
First NHL goal for Marat! #MNWILD | #NHL pic.twitter.com/KKihRzG4t5
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 13, 2024
Wild’s penalty kill was awful … as usual
It wouldn’t be a Wild game without their penalty kill leaking uncontrollably. Fleury, who entered the game with a .820 save percentage on the penalty kill, surrendered a couple of goals to Jack Eichel and Marchessault. The Wild’s penalty kill went 2-for-4 and is now ranked 30th in the NHL at 72.9 percent. They have allowed 66 power-play goals, second-most in the NHL. Johansson, who turned the puck before Vegas’ second goal with a soft wall play, lost the puck on a shorthanded rush and then compounded things by taking an offensive-zone slashing minor that led to Vegas’ fourth goal.
Jonathan Marchessault adds to the Vegas lead on the power play with his 42nd goal of the season!#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/Hq18uZ7lFE
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 13, 2024
Ohgren makes NHL debut
The Wild were annihilated, but it wasn’t the 21-year-old rookie Ohgren’s fault. In his first NHL game, he skated with Khusnutdinov and Vinni Lettieri and wasn’t on for a goal until Hertl’s goal gave Vegas a 5-1 lead. His first shift came on the power play and he was on the ice for Khusnutdinov’s tally. He finished with two shots, three attempts and two hits in 14:07 of ice time.
“Liam, I thought, played well. I think he’s competitive, he’s got good speed, he’s got good hockey sense. In a difficult game to play in, I was impressed with him. I think that there’s a lot there. From a bad night, that’s an encouraging sign.”
GO DEEPER
How Wild rookie Liam Ohgren’s upbringing shaped him for his ‘dream’ of playing in the NHL
Three stars
1. Chandler Stephenson, Golden Knights: The pending free agent assisted on four Vegas goals.
2. Jack Eichel, Golden Knights: Last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy runner-up scored a power-play goal and had an assist.
3. Noah Hanifin, Golden Knights: Fresh off an eight-year extension worth $7.35 million, the recently acquired defenseman had two assists.
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Quotes of the night
“You look at the competitive areas of the rink — wall play, D-zone down low — manhandled. We got to fix that. And to me, that’s really being ready to play and that’s going to be addressed. All of the things we’re talking about was the mental readiness to play and the commitment to do the right things and we didn’t have it tonight. I thought a couple of those younger guys did, but I think there’s gonna be some things addressed. — Hynes.
“I’m looking at the veterans. Where were we tonight?” — Hynes.
“It sucks just to not help him out more. He loves to battle and he loves to play here and it would have been fun to help him get a win, but we couldn’t do it.” — Johansson on Fleury’s tough night.
“Obviously, not the result we wanted but a special night for me and my family. To do the warmup, the rookie lap, it was awesome and to get my first game in the books, it’s a special moment.” — Ohgren on his NHL debut.
“Dream. It’s a good feeling. But it don’t help. This goal don’t help my team.” — Khusnutdinov on his first NHL goal.
(Photo: Zak Krill / Getty Images)
