The Vegas Golden Knights opened the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas leads the series, 1-0.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
Tomas Hertl opened the scoring as he stripped the puck from Brock Faber in front of the Minnesota net and fired a shot upstairs on Filip Gustavsson to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead. With 2:18 to play in the opening frame, Matt Boldy snuck a shot through the legs of Adin Hill to knot the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission. After Joel Eriksson Ek took the game’s first penalty at 13:27 of the second period, Vegas wasted little as a face-off play set up Pavel Dorofeyev for his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal at 13:33 to make it a 2-1 game. Early in the third, Brett Howden raced down the left wing and fired a shot past Gustavsson to put Vegas ahead, 3-1. Boldy scored again midway through the third to cut the Golden Knights’ lead to 3-2, but Howden’s empty-net goal in the final second of the game sealed the 4-2 victory for Vegas in Game 1.
TOP PERFORMERS
Brett Howden:\ Howden scored two goals in the third period to help Vegas secure the win.
Tomas Hertl: Hertl picked up a goal and an assist for his first multi-point playoff game with the Golden Knights.
Pavel Dorofeyev: Dorofeyev scored the only power-play goal of the game to put Vegas ahead in the middle frame.
Adin Hill: Hill made 18 saves on 20 shots to secure his 13th career postseason victory.
SERIES AT A GLANCE
Game 1: Golden Knights 4, Wild 2 | Highlights
Game 2: Tuesday, April 22 at 8 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 3: Thursday, April 24 at 6 p.m. | Xcel Energy Center
Game 4: Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m. | Xcel Energy Center
Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, April 29 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, May 1 – Time TBD | Xcel Energy Center
Game 7 (if necessary): Saturday, May 3 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
Tomas Hertl opened the scoring with his 26th career playoff goal and tied Martin Straka for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time list among Czech-born players.
The Golden Knights improved to 11-6 (.647) in Game 1s, which marks the highest winning percentage among all franchises in NHL history (min. 3 GP).
Shea Theodore recorded his 48th career playoff assist to tie Reilly Smith for the most in Golden Knights postseason history.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Knights and Wild will meet in Game 2 of their series on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. Catch the action on Vegas 34 in Las Vegas, ESPN nationally, FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340 and Deportes Vegas 1460.
