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Although the Minnesota Wild were unable to take a 3-1 stranglehold on their first-round series with the Vegas Golden Knights at home in Game 4, head coach John Hynes is happy with how things are going ahead of a crucial Game 5 on the strip on Tuesday.
“Ah, man, we’re in a good spot,” Hynes said, per NHL.com's Shawn P. Roarke. “It was a hard-fought battle; we played well again. Game was right in our hands. Both teams competed hard. We knew it would be a hard series. Love where we’re at. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought series. We really like our game. We’re here, man. We’ll just keep grinding.”
The Wild led Game 4 going into the third period, but allowed the Knights to score two unanswered goals. Minnesota was able to tie things up in regulation before Vegas knotted the series at two on an Ivan Barbashev overtime winner.
Still, considering the Wild were heavy underdogs going into the series against the 2023 Stanley Cup champions, they've matched their opponents stride for stride so far.
Even without home-ice advantage, the squad is confident it can find a way to get another road win in Las Vegas.
“Two-two doesn’t scare us,” veteran forward Marcus Foligno told Roarke. “This is a series. They’re a heck of a team. Not going to be easy. It was a good game by both sides. This is what we expect. Best out of three going back to Vegas, and yeah, we’re in a good spot. Keep our heads up here. We played a hard game and it’s got to be the same effort in Vegas.”
Wild looking for 1st series win since 2015
It's been a tough go for the Wild over the last decade; the franchise has advanced to the dance eight times in 10 tries, but failed to win a series in any of those years.
The last time Minnesota won a round was back in 2014-15, when they defeated the St. Louis Blues in six games. They ended up losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in Round 2; the Hawks went on to win their third championship in six seasons.
What the Wild have this time around is Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, and the two star forwards have been excellent in the series. They'll need to be at their best if Minnesota hopes to steal back home-ice advantage and give themselves a chance to have playoff success for the first time in 10 years.
Filip Gustavsson has also been great between the pipes, especially in back-to-back 5-2 victories in Games 2 and 3.
“I think the feeling in the locker room is very good. You know everyone has a lot of confidence right now,” the star netminder said, per Roarke. “If we’re playing like we’re playing today and last game, we have a really good chance at beating this team.”
The Wild lost to the Golden Knights in a hard-fought seven-game series back in 2021, and the work continues on Tuesday night to get revenge on their cross-divisional rivals.
Puck is set to drop on Game 5 between Minnesota and Vegas just past 9:30 p.m. ET from T-Mobile Arena.
