The Minnesota Wild’s top line has left their fingerprints all over their first-round playoff series with the Golden Knights through two games. Left wing Kirill Kaprizov has five points, while right wing Matt Boldy has four. They, along with center Joel Eriksson Ek, drove the Wild’s offense in their 5-2 win in Game 2 on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena. The Knights’ top line, on the other hand, hasn’t made a dent yet.
Center Jack Eichel, captain Mark Stone, and left wing Ivan Barbashev don’t have a point. Eichel has only two shots on goal. The Knights need the group to step up when the series shifts to Xcel Energy Center for Game 3 at 6 p.m. Thursday. Eichel set a franchise record with 94 points. Stone added 67 points in 66 games, while Barbashev scored 23 goals.
The Knights need their top players to produce this time of year, especially when the Wild’s stars are shining. Coach Bruce Cassidy said, “They’re elite, world-class players. They gotta get going. To me, it’s a little bit of, the other team’s top guys are all over the sheet. It’s time. We’ve got to help them. We’re trying to help them.”
The Knights got off to a strong start in Game 2. They controlled play and fired the game’s first five shots. Minnesota withstood the pressure and responded with a great play from their two top forwards. Kaprizov fired a perfect stretch pass to Boldy, who beat goaltender Adin Hill off the rush 9:56 into the first period. Eichel and Stone couldn’t match Kaprizov and Boldy’s output. Eichel didn’t have a shot on goal Tuesday, while Stone had one. Barbashev finished with three, but only after getting moved to the fourth line.
Eichel and Stone are both minus-2 at five-on-five in the series. Every goal against they’ve been on the ice for has come from Kaprizov or Boldy. It’s been a huge boost for the Wild to have their top line clicking in time for the playoffs. Boldy carried the Wild’s offense in their absence. He scored a career-high 73 points to help his team scratch and claw its way to the postseason.
Cassidy said one thing that could get his top guys going is power-play touches, but those might be hard to come by in this series. The Knights took 197 penalties this season, the fewest in NHL history in an 82-game campaign. They also drew the fewest in the league. That means Eichel’s line might have to right itself at five-on-five. Cassidy said the group needs to get through the neutral zone faster and establish more offensive-zone time.
Thursday is important, though. The winner of Game 3 when a best-of-seven series is tied 1-1 has advanced 66.1 percent of the time. “That’s what they’re going to have to deal with,” Cassidy said. “That’s playoff hockey. They’ve been through that before.”
