Howden lifts Golden Knights in OT to top Wild in Game 5 thriller

The Vegas Golden Knights are one win closer to advancing to the second round of the playoffs after defeating the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in overtime in Game 5 Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

It was the club’s second straight overtime win after a 4-3 OT decision in Game 4. Vegas now leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.

This was a narrative-driven and memorable contest that hinged on one moment late in the third period. At that time, things were not looking good for Vegas, as it appeared as though Ryan Hartman had scored the go-ahead goal with just 1:15 remaining. But after two separate reviews, the goal was overturned, keeping Vegas’ hopes alive and forcing overtime.

Brett Howden then played the hero with the game-winner 4:05 into extra time.

Ironically, he scored his third of the playoffs on former Golden Knights netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, who made a surprise appearance after replacing Filip Gustavsson (illness) to start the third period. Fleury stopped six of seven shots in the relief effort, but it wasn’t enough to steal the win.

The Golden Knights never trailed in this game. Not officially, at least.

Vegas opened the scoring with a power-kill strike 8:25 into the opening frame. It wasn’t the usual Reilly Smith to William Karlsson connection because Smith was in the box, but Jack Eichel filled the role admirably to set up Karlsson’s first of the playoffs.

However, the Wild converted on that same power play just 13 seconds later to erase Vegas’ early edge. It was Kirill Kaprizov’s fifth of the postseason, and it came on a one-timer off a cross-zone pass from Mats Zuccarello.

But the Golden Knights responded by regaining the lead on a deep blast from Mark Stone, who found twine at 13:24 for his first tally of the series.

Vegas outshot Minnesota 16-9 in the first period. The Golden Knights’ top players came to play, and Eichel had his best period of the series with assists on both of Vegas’ tallies.

The Golden Knights held on to that 2-1 lead until early in the third period. Adin Hill came up with several key saves along the way to make that happen. Another contributing factor to the narrow margin was Vegas’ inability to capitalize on the power play, as the home team went 0-for-3 on the night, including on back-to-back opportunities midway through the middle frame.

With Fleury in the starter’s crease to start the third, the Wild had 39 seconds of carry-over time on the man-advantage, which Vegas killed. However, Matt Boldy scored his fifth of the series 3:31 into the period to tie the game at 2-2.

Vegas made a concerted push throughout the third, with the Wild going more than 12 minutes without a shot on goal. But then Vegas’ season was in limbo when Hartman’s drive to the net saw the puck deflect off his leg and into the cage. Hill was adamant the puck was kicked into the net, and the play was reviewed by the league, but it was determined to be a good goal.

With just 75 seconds on the clock, Vegas appeared to be on the brink.

But the hockey gods intervened, and Golden Knights video coach Dave Rogowski saved the season.

He made the call for the Golden Knights to come right back and challenge the play for offside. That challenge proved to be successful and ultimately erased Minnesota’s 3-2 lead.

In other words, as Bruce Cassidy put it, “it saved our ass.”

The two clubs headed to overtime for the second game in a row.

Vegas’ hunger carried over into overtime, and the Golden Knights had four scoring chances before Tanner Pearson — who saw less ice time (7:48) than everyone else on the team — fought for the puck along the boards and set up Howden, who roofed the puck over Fleury from in tight.

Howden is now the only Golden Knights player with two overtime game-winning goals in the postseason.

The Golden Knights needed to win Game 5, and though they couldn’t extend their lead despite looking dangerous on the power play, they capitalized on a bit of fortune and took care of business when they had to.

“We caught a good bounce there, with them going offside on that goal,” Howden said. “We knew we were fortunate with that, so just tried doing the best we could taking advantage of that being on our side and finishing it off in overtime.”

Howden leads the team with three goals through five games. His postseason has been an excellent follow-up to a career season in which he scored 23 goals and 40 points. After Ivan Barbashev and Smith won it for Vegas in Game 4, Howden and Pearson called game tonight.

“I think for everybody, we have a deep team that everyone contributes,” Howden said. “I think that’s one of the best things about our team…how our depth takes over games.”

But more importantly, the Golden Knights got key contributions from the top half of their lineup in Game 5. After a very quiet start to the series, Eichel and Stone combined for three points, and Karlsson lit the lamp in the pivotal Game 5 matchup.

“It was a big game for those guys,” Howden said. “They got us going right off the start.”

The Eichel and Karlsson tandem, which Cassidy put together at the end of Game 4, also managed to control Minnesota’s top line. That duo will be a key factor for the Golden Knights moving forward.

In overtime, Vegas demonstrated the type of killer instinct that has been missing throughout this series. The Golden Knights were easily the better team and the hungrier team. That doesn’t always matter in the end, but instead of playing not to lose, the Golden Knights came out and played to win. That’s what they needed, and that’s why they now lead 3-2.

Cassidy was aggressive throughout. He put Karlsson, Eichel and Stone on the same line at various points, and he put the fourth line on the ice in overtime, which proved to be the right call. He hasn’t always had the answer in this series, but he pulled the right strings in Game 5.

Vegas will have a chance to wrap up the series in Game 6 Thursday in Minnesota, but it will not be an easy task. The Wild were inches away from stealing Game 5 and heading home for an elimination game in their favor. Instead, they will have to fight to extend this series and force a Game 7. The Golden Knights understand the significance of closing out a series, and they’re no strangers to doing so on the road after their 2023 Stanley Cup run. Building on tonight’s performance will be vital.