The Golden Knights tied the game late in regulation, and Erik Haula scored in the third round of a shootout as Vegas rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Haula, taking the second attempt in the third round after Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Mikko Koivu's try, fired a shot between the pads of Devan Dubnyk that squirted into the net for the game-winner.
Fleury saved all three Minnesota shootout attempts, and Vegas failed to score on its first two attempts.
Max Pacioretty sent the game into overtime by scoring the tying goal with 1:31 remaining in the third period. Fleury, yanked midway in a 5-2, opening-night loss to the Philadelphia Flyers after giving up five goals on 16 shots, finished with 29 saves Saturday and won for the first time in four career starts at Xcel Energy Center.
Matt Dumba scored in the first period for the Wild, who had opened the season with a 4-1 loss at Colorado on Thursday night. Dubnyk made 41 saves.
Dumba, coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 14 goals, gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead at the 9:23 mark of the first period. He slapped a pass from Charlie Coyle from the right point past Fleury's block side.
The Golden Knights peppered Dubnyk with 25 shots over the first two periods, and Haula and Ryan Reaves both clanged shots off the post. Dubnyk's best save came late in the second period when he stopped Paul Stastny's point-blank try from the edge of the crease with the toe of his skate.
The Golden Knights pulled Fleury for an extra attacker with two minutes to go, and Pacioretty tied it with a slap shot from the slot off a pass from Jonathan Marchessault.
Marchessault picked up a tripping penalty on Jonas Brodin with 25 seconds left in regulation. Koivu had a chance to win it at the end of the power play, but his shot from the edge of the crease hit the left post.
The Wild went first in the shootout, and Fleury stopped Zach Parise with a pad save. On Minnesota's next tries, Jason Zucker fired a backhand try wide before Koivu lost control of a shot in front of the net. Dubnyk stopped William Karlsson's backhand attempt and made a glove save on a shot by Marchessault before Haula scored the winner.
--Field Level Media
Vegas | Minnesota | |
Max Pacioretty 1 | Points | Matt Dumba 1 |
Max Pacioretty 1 | Goals | Matt Dumba 1 |
Jonathan Marchessault 1 | Assists | Charlie Coyle 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Marc-Andre Fleury .967 | Save Percentage | Devan Dubnyk .976 |
Marc-Andre Fleury 29 | Saves | Devan Dubnyk 41 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Vegas | 42 | 2 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 9 | 35 |
Minnesota | 30 | 1 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 11 | 35 |