Golden Knights pull away from Wild in 3rd period

LAS VEGAS -- Pavel Dorofeyev scored two power-play goals and had an assist for the Vegas Golden Knights, who pulled away from the Minnesota Wild for a 4-1 win at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

“He's got a great shot, he can hold the puck,” Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl said. “He can make plays, and I think he's got a huge future in the NHL. He scored a lot of big goals for us. Both goals was just a great shot.”

Hertl had a goal and an assist, Keegan Kolesar also scored, and Shea Theodore and Mark Stone each had two assists for Vegas (29-11-3), which had lost the first two games of a three-game homestand, including 2-1 to the New York Rangers on Saturday. Adin Hill made 15 saves.

“Obviously, when the bounces aren't going your way and the goals aren't going your way, you can put that little seed of doubt in your head,” Kolesar said. “We're a veteran group in here like many have said. We're able to turn the page when we have to. The last two games are behind us. We knew we hadn't played our best, and then in the third period there we showed what we can do.”

Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel did not play because of an illness.

“I don't think Jack is long-term. It's an illness,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It's probably one of those quick ones that he'll be fine. I don't know if that is a fact, but my guess is he'll be back in [at the Nashville Predators on Tuesday].”

Ryan Hartman scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves for Minnesota (27-13-4), which was coming off a 3-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

“The effort is there. The whole team is just really fighting to win the game,” Gustavsson said. “Vegas is one of the top teams in the League, and if you're missing some of your best players, it's going to be tougher. We knew the challenge and were there 2-1 with five or four minutes left. If we score one, you never know.”

Hartman gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 12:09 of the first period. He elected to keep the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and roofed a wrist shot over Hill’s glove from the right circle.

Dorofeyev tied the game 1-1 at 5:21 of the second period, scoring from the slot just as a 5-on-3 power play expired.

“I thought we did a good job on the kill,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It didn't really have an impact on the game other than scoring, but I thought from a mentality standpoint it had no impact.”

Kolesar put Vegas in front 2-1 at 4:09 of the third period. He got inside position on Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian and knocked in the rebound of Zach Whitecloud's shot with his backhand.

“It was huge for us,” Cassidy said. “We felt that when you're not scoring, sometimes you're trying to make an extra pass or whatever. You're hitting posts. How about a greasy one, right? It couldn't have been any greasier.”

Hertl made it 3-1 at 15:40 with a shot from the left circle after his initial attempt was blocked by Wild defenseman Jake Middleton.

Dorofeyev then pushed it to 4-1 at 17:48, scoring his second power-play goal from the left circle off a pass from Stone.

“[Pavel] can score, and he will,” Cassidy said. “I've said it before, I think sometimes wingers can be streaky. Is the puck finding them? Is it not? They don't see it as much as maybe centermen or can't activate like [defensemen]. So, at the end of the day, he's kept working and done a good job.”

NOTES: Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy returned after missing the previous 11 games with an upper-body injury. He had an assist and was plus-1 in 17:03 of ice time. ... Dorofeyev has 24 points (16 goals, eight assists) in 43 games this season, tying his NHL career high he set in 47 games last season.