Golden Knights lean on playoff experience to secure Game 4 win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The fingerprints of the veteran players from the Vegas Golden Knights were all over a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

Ivan Barbashev scored the winning goal with 2:34 remaining in overtime to even the best-of-7 series at 2-2.

“Our guys have been there and done that,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think they knew we were getting better as the game went on, so that's part of the mental part. Don't try to do it yourself.”

Now, this series is a best-of-3, with the Golden Knights reclaiming home ice. Game 5 is at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNE, SN360, TVAS).

It’s hard to put in perspective how important this win was for Vegas, which had been outscored 10-4 in the past two games.

In the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 316 of 348 teams (90.8 percent) have gone on to advance if they can get a 3-1 lead.

Minnesota, which had won all 31 regular-season games in which it took a lead into the third period and was the only team in the League not to blow a second-period lead, was one goal away from that elimination-game stranglehold. And, they had a 2-1 lead going into the final 20 minutes.

Then they didn’t.

Thanks in huge part to the core of the Vegas Golden Knights 2023 Stanley Cup team, which beat the Florida Panthers for the franchise’s first championship.

Now the series is a 50-50 proposition. There have been 590 playoff series in the NHL tied at 2-2. Each team has won 295.

“I think this time of year experience is a big thing and we have a lot of guys still on the team from when we won,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, who was the top-scoring defenseman in the postseason for the Golden Knights two seasons ago and scored the game-opening goal Saturday. “We’ve added some great pieces to continue building that. With the experience, we like where we’re at."

That experience came to the fore in overtime.

Each team traded chances throughout most of the extra period. Suddenly, there was a face-off in the Minnesota end and the Golden Knights struck, scoring a playoff-type goal.

Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton fanned on a clearing attempt and Reilly Smith, an original Golden Knight, shoveled the puck to the front of the net. It was blocked by Middleton but fell to forward Nicolas Roy, who kicked it into the slot. There, Barbashev pounced, firing it past a scrambling Filip Gustavsson.

Game over. Series redefined.

Of course, it was Barbashev. He has won the Cup twice, once with Vegas and with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. In 2023, he was Johnny on the spot for these Golden Knights, putting up 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 22 postseason games.

“I think we jumped pretty good on the face-off there, kind of a bubble puck and 'Smitty' [had] nice puck protection there,” Roy said. “Those overtime goals are usually not that pretty. It’s usually hard work and it was one of those.”

Roy, another player with his name on the Stanley Cup, scored the goal that tied the game at 2-2 at 4:50 of the third. He gathered a bouncing puck in the slot and negotiated a maze of traffic with subtle patience.

“There was a shot from Pavel [Dorofeyev] there on the side and there was kind of a rebound and it was kind of bouncing a bit in the slot,” Roy said. “Usually in those moments a little bit scrambling, trying to block shots. I thought there was a little bit of space and I took it.”

Top-line center Jack Eichel finally got on the scoreboard, a secondary assist on the Theodore goal. Captain Mark Stone had the primary assist on the goal that made it 3-2 with a shot-pass that bounced off a prone Tomas Hertl and into the net.

Cassidy suggested after the game that Stone meant to play the bank shot.

Even Cassidy, the coach of the Cup-winning team, showed the wisdom gained from the 2023 run.

He has been patient all series, refusing to mix things up. He never wavered from goalie Adin Hill, who repaid that confidence in Game 4. He didn’t change his lines – until he had to. The top line wasn’t going yet again and he threw his lines into the blender in the third period, resulting in two goals.

The two best players – Stone and Eichel – had been dominant together all season.

Now they were apart.

It took guts and a deft feel.

“They just, for whatever reason, weren't clicking, so sometimes a little time apart,” is how he explained it.

Cassidy also resisted the urge to challenge either of Minnesota’s final two goals. There was a chance that the Marcus Foligno goal that made it 2-1 could have been overturned for a hand pass. The goal by Jared Spurgeon that tied it at 3-all with 9:03 left in regulation had the hint of goalie interference by Kirill Kaprizov.

Each time he considered it, but demurred, believing in his team and not wanting to put it short-handed because of the penalty that accompanies an unsuccessful challenge.

In the end, the faith and the hard work and the experience won the day.

Did it win the series? That remains to be seen.

But the Golden Knights like where they are now a lot more than they did at the start of the game Saturday.

“Emotionally, we're gonna enjoy it, tomorrow we'll rest and then get back to work on Monday,” Cassidy said.