The Vegas Golden Knights got back on the winning track with a 3-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
Forward Victor Olofsson scored twice, and defenseman Shea Theodore had a goal. Forward Jack Eichel had two assists for Vegas (20-8-3).
Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves in the win.
“Well, we got to the finish line with two points,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re still striving for that 60 minutes, but I’d say, you know, winning the hockey game is what matters, and we found a way to make the plays at the right time and defend really well in the third on the road against a good team.”
Olofsson Continues Run
Olofsson continued his hot streak with two goals against the Wild.
He now has six points in five games (four goals, two assists).
His goalscoring has been welcomed, as second-leading scorer Pavel Dorofeyev hasn’t found the net in eight games.
Scorers will go on hot and cold streaks and right now, Olofsson is on a bit of a heater.
Different Ways To Score
The Golden Knights have been deadly in two aspects this season: on the rush and on the power play.
That’s exactly how Vegas scored all three of its goals: twice on the rush and once on the power play.
“I think we’re happy with our rush game. You want to continue to build on the offensive zone play,” Eichel said. “I thought we were good in the first. As the game went on, we would to have liked to have spent more time in their zone, but give them credit, they play well defensively. We found a way. A couple rush goals and obviously a power-play goal. It was a good effort by us, and continue to build. There’s things we like, there’s things we want to get better at. We’re happy with two points.”
Golden Knights lose forward
Leading scorer and forward Ivan Barbashev left the game with an upper-body injury.
There was no update following the game.
The Golden Knights won’t play again until Thursday, giving Barbashev time to heal. If the injury is more serious than a few days, it would be a significant blow to the Golden Knights,
Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.
