The Minnesota Wild (24-23-5) spoiled Alex Pietrangelo's big night in their 5-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights (31-16-6) inside T-Mobile Arena on Monday.
Matt Boldy had a three-point game (a goal and two assists) and Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice. Mats Zuccarello and Marco Rossi were the other goal scorers, while the trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman and rookie Brock Faber recorded two assists each.
The Wild extended their win streak to three games in the win and closed the gap between them and the eighth-place St. Louis Blues to five points.
The Wild, who play the Blues three times in the month of March, sit in the No. 11 spot and are only three points back of the ninth-place Nashville Predators, too. This is shaping up to be an exciting, tight race for the final playoff spot in the West. The Wild got some help on Monday, too, as both the Seattle Kraken and Arizona Coyotes lost in regulation.
Here's what you need to know:
• Pietrangelo played in his 1,000th career game on Monday, and the Golden Knights honored him during a pregame ceremony. The 34-year-old veteran blueliner played his first 758 games in St. Louis and has since recorded 144 points in 242 games in Vegas.
• The Wild's penalty kill was busy again, but stood up to the task — going 4-for-5. The penalty kill has been one of the Wild's strengths as of late as it's gone 26-for-29 over the past eight games since allowing three power play goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 18.
• Faber tied Connor Bedard for the rookie lead in points at 31 on Monday after recording two third-period assists.
• Filip Gustavsson stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced for a .900 save percentage. He stopped all six high-danger shots he faced. Overall, Gustavsson allowed three goals on 2.18 expected goals (-0.82), according to Natural Stat Trick.
• Connor Dewar, who the Wild activated from injured reserve on Monday, made his return to the lineup after missing six games. Dewar played 9:35 alongside Jake Lucchini and Vinni Lettieri.
• The Wild and Golden Knights met Monday for the first time this season. The Wild face the Golden Knights next on March 30 in St. Paul and then play again in Vegas on April 12.
Turning point
After a scoreless second period, and with the score tied 2-2, Matt Boldy set up Rossi's go-ahead goal when he made a great play by cutting to the slot and firing the puck on goal. Rossi pounced on the loose puck in the crease for his 14th goal of the season, which gave the Wild a 3-2 lead with 13:32 left. This sure felt like the turning point of the game.
Highlight
Boldy had the highlight of the game when he beat Adin Hill from below the goal line just 61 seconds after earning the primary assist on Rossi's go-ahead even-strength marker. This gave the Wild a 4-2 lead with 12:31 left.
But it proved to be a short lived two-goal lead as Mark Stone and Vegas answered two minutes and nine seconds later, which cut the deficit to 4-3 before Eriksson Ek sealed the deal with his team-leading 23rd goal of the year — an empty netter with 22 seconds left.
Three Wild stars
1st — Boldy (A goal, two assists, seven shots and 16 attempts)
2nd — Eriksson Ek (Two goals, four shots and won 15 of his 23 faceoffs)
3rd — Kaprizov (Two assists, six shots and 11 attempts)