Golden Knights edge Wild in Game 1 of Western 1st Round

LAS VEGAS -- Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-2 win against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be here on Tuesday (11 p.m. ET; FDSNNO, SCRIPPS, ESPN, SN360, SN, TVAS).

“I always try to play my game,” Hertl said. “It's kind of a playoff style. I'm happy I could help the team today with that, but it's just always all team effort.”

Brett Howden scored twice in the third period, and Pavel Dorofeyev also had a goal for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division. Adin Hill made 18 saves.

“We got to our game fairly quickly,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We haven't started great here, but we usually get better as the game goes on. I think that happened. So, a lot of positives that way. That part of it was good. ... We made more plays than them at the end in the offensive zone to secure the win. I think you'll see a similar game on Tuesday. I don't think either team is going to try to get away from what they do well. It's too early in the series.”

Matt Boldy scored twice, Kirill Kaprizov had two assists, and Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for the Wild, who are the first wild card from the West.

“[Boldy] was very good,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “Obviously, he had the two goals, but I thought he was a beast on the puck. He was moving his feet. He played the style game, which gives him a really good chance to be a dominant player in the series. He did a good job.”

Hertl gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 15:22 of the first period. He roofed a shot over Gustavsson’s right shoulder from the bottom of the left circle after lifting the stick and stealing the puck from Wild defenseman Brock Faber.

Boldy tied the game 1-1 at 17:42, scoring five-hole from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Kaprizov.

Dorofeyev put the Golden Knights back in front 2-1 with a power-play goal at 13:33 of the second period. Shea Theodore faked a slap shot at the point before passing over to Dorofeyev, who scored into an open net with a one-timer from the right face-off dot.

Howden extended the lead to 3-1 at 2:28 of the third period, scoring short side with a wrist shot from left circle on a rush.

“He's been unbelievable all year,” said Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy, who had the primary assist on the play. “Look at the goal there. I just saw he's coming with so much speed, so you get it to the outside, and he's goal-scorer ‘Howie’ these days. So, fun to watch.”

Boldy scored his second of the game on a wraparound to cut it to 3-2 at 11:46, but Howden scored a power-play goal into an empty net with one second left for the 4-2 final.

“It was a good hockey game. It was a tight one,” Gustavsson said. “We came right back and right with them all the way there. We got that second goal in the third period to really put the pressure on at the end there.”

NOTES: Defenseman Zeev Buium, who was selected with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, became the first player in Wild history to make his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He had one shot in 13:27 of ice time. ... Hertl scored his 26th career postseason goal, tying Martin Straka for ninth among Czechia-born players in NHL history.