The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas defended home ice in a tight, defensive game, which is the style they want to play. Tomas Hertl opened the scoring, Adin Hill was spectacular, and they are off and running again. Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy spoke about what he expects moving forward against the Wild.

“We got to our game fairly quickly,” Cassidy told NHL.com's Paul Delos Santos. “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.

Cassidy continued, “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.”

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The Golden Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup because of their elite defensive core and incredible structure. Cassidy came over from the Bruins and revamped their defensive style, and it worked immediately. Now, in his third year in the desert, Cassidy has another team ready for a Stanley Cup run.

The Golden Knights want to quiet down the Wild's top line for the entire series. That is where they are going to deploy Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, who are both back in time for the postseason. When Cassidy has the last change at home, he is going to make sure Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy cannot get momentum. That may change when the Wild have home-ice in Games 3 and 4.

Game 2 of Golden Knights vs Wild is on Tuesday in Vegas, 10 p.m. Central and 8 p.m. Pacific. Can Vegas take a 2-0 lead?