The Minnesota Wild beat the Golden Knights 4-2 on Monday night, with special teams proving decisive once again. Max Shabanov scored on a power play during a three-goal first period, as the Wild held on behind what multiple outlets described as another strong special teams performance.
Matt Boldy and Danila Yurov also scored early for Minnesota, which outshot Vegas 23-11 over the first two periods. The Wild were particularly stingy in their own end while down a man, recording 6 shots while short-handed against just 1 for the Golden Knights in that span—a stark illustration of a penalty kill that has become central to Minnesota's approach.
The win gives the Wild a 46-24 record and leaves them third in the Central Division. They have won one of their last three games, the other two results being a 4-1 road victory over Florida on October 10 and a 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay on October 8. For Vegas, the loss snapped a three-game winning streak; the Golden Knights (39-26, third in the Pacific Division) had beaten Los Angeles 2-1 and Toronto 4-3 before falling to Minnesota.
Yurov, in his fifth game of the season, has recorded 1 goal and 1 assist for 2 points. The reporting did not identify who scored the Wild's fourth goal or provide additional details about the game's flow after the first period.
Minnesota visits Winnipeg on Tuesday night, while Vegas travels to Nashville the same evening.
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