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 latest Western Conference team to clinch a place in the playoffs by easily defeating the Wild, 7-2, at T-Mobile Arena.
The Wild allowed three goals in the first eight minutes and 35 seconds, and were never able to come back during an embarrassing night of soft play all over the ice, especially along the walls.
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 one 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 chants of “Fleury” just in case it was the last time he was on the ice as an NHL player against Vegas. After the game, he may have set a record for the speed at which he sprinted off the ice after such a humiliating 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 last 13.
- Forwards Mats Zuccarello and Freddy Gaudreau were back in the Twin Cities for family reasons. It remained up for debate whether it was worth 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 the 19th player of Swedish descent to play a regular season game for the Wild.
- Rookie Jesper Wallstedt, who is coming off a shutout in Chicago, will make his third career start Saturday night in San Jose.
Pavel Dorofeyev goes to the top. 🚨
Stream Golden Knights vs. Wild on Sportsnet+. pic.twitter.com/TQ5zNUv6eA
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 13, 2024
Khusnutdinov scores his first NHL goal
In his 13th NHL game, Khusnutdinov, 21, became the 98th player to score a regular season goal for the Wild. The speedy, 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 recovered the souvenir puck for Khusnutdinov.
First NHL goal for Marat! #MNWILD | #NHL pic.twitter.com/KKihRzG4t5
– Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 13, 2024
Wild’s penalty was horrible…as usual
It wouldn’t be a Wild game without their shots on goal leaking out of control. Fleury, who entered the game with an .820 save percentage shorthanded, gave up a few goals to Jack Eichel and Marchessault. The Wild went 2 for 4 on penalties and are now ranked 30th in the NHL at 72.9 percent. They have allowed 66 power play goals, the second most in the NHL. Johansson, who spun the puck before Vegas’ second goal with a soft wall play, lost the puck on a shorthanded rush, then made matters worse by taking a minor in the offensive zone that led to the fourth goal from Vegas.
Jonathan Marchessault adds to 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 his NHL debut
The Wild were wiped out, but it wasn’t 21-year-old rookie Ohgren’s fault. In his first NHL game, he skated with Khusnutdinov and Vinni Lettieri and was unable to score until Hertl’s goal gave Vegas a 5–1 lead. His first appearance took place on the power play and he was on the ice for Khusnutdinov’s goal. 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 match to play, I was impressed by him. I think there are many. After a bad night, it’s an encouraging sign.
GO FURTHER
How Wild rookie Liam Ohgren’s upbringing shaped him to achieve his ‘dream’ of playing in the NHL
Three stars
1. Chandler Stephenson, Golden Knights: The pending free agent contributed to four Vegas goals.
2. Jack Eichel, Golden Knights: Last year’s Conn Smythe Trophy finalist scored a power play goal and had an assist.
3. Noah Hanifin, Golden Knights: Fresh off an eight-year, $7.35 million extension, the recently acquired defenseman had two assists.
Quotes of the night
“You look at the competition areas of the rink – play on the walls, zone D downstairs – being abused. We have to solve this problem. And for me, it’s really being ready to play and that’s going to be addressed. All we talked about was mental preparation to play and commitment to doing the right things, but we didn’t have that tonight. I thought a few of these kids did it, but I think some things are going to be worked out. — Hynes.
“I look at veterans. Where were we this evening? — Hynes.
“It’s a shame we didn’t help him more.” He loves to fight and he loves to play here and it would have been fun to help him get the win, but we couldn’t do it. — Johansson about Fleury’s tough evening.
“Obviously it’s not the result we wanted but a special evening for me and my family. Doing the warm-up, the rookie round, it was awesome and getting my first match in the books, it’s a special moment. — Ohgren on his NHL debut.
“Dream. It’s a good feeling. But it doesn’t help. This goal doesn’t help my team. — Khusnutdinov on his first NHL goal.
(Photo: Zak Krill/Getty Images)