Forward wins it at 17:26 to send series back to Vegas tied 2-2
Golden Knights at Wild | Recap | Round 1, Game 4
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Ivan Barbashev scored at 17:26 of overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win against the Minnesota Wild in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.
Reilly Smith drove through the right circle and threw a centering pass to the crease that was deflected by Nicolas Roy before Barbashev found the loose puck and shoveled in a backhand.
“I think we jumped pretty good on the face-off there, kind of a bubble puck, and ‘Smitty’ nice puck protection there,” Roy said. “Those overtime goals are usually not that pretty. It’s usually hard work and it was one of those.”
The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2 with Game 5 in Vegas on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
Barbashev, Roy and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division. Adin Hill made 29 saves.
“I think you’re jumping on a plane feeling good about yourself, right?” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “At the end of the day, it’s 2-2, it’s best-of-3. We lost home ice, we got it back. It’s been hard fought, every inch of ice there, so that’s how I’m looking at it. Emotionally, we’re [going to] enjoy it, but tomorrow we’ll rest and then get back to work.”
VGK@MIN, Gm4: Barbashev finds the twine on the backhand to win it in overtime
Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon scored for the Wild, who are the first wild card from the West. Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves.
“We’re in a good spot,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It was a hard-fought battle, we played well again. Game was right in our hands. Both teams competed hard. We knew it would be a hard series. Love where we’re at. We knew it was going to be a hard-fought series. We really like our game. We’re here, man. We’ll just keep grinding.”
Shea Theodore gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 6:47 of the first period with a wrist shot from the point on the power play.
VGK@MIN, Gm4: Theodore wires in PPG to open scoring
Rossi tied it 1-1 at 10:43, taking a backhanded pass from Justin Brazeau below the goal line and beating Hill with a snap shot from the low slot.
Foligno put Minnesota ahead 2-1 at 1:24 of the second period when he backhanded in the rebound of Ryan Hartman’s initial shot from the slot.
“It was good playoff hockey,” Foligno said. “It was exciting. We had chances there at the end. Yeah, both goalies played great. It was a good hockey game.”
Roy tied it 2-2 at 4:50 of the third period during a four-minute power play, finding a loose puck in the slot and scoring with a wrist shot.
Hertl gave Vegas a 3-2 lead at 10:03. He got tangled with Hartman in front of the net and was wrestled to the ground, where Mark Stone’s wrist shot hit his leg and rolled past Gustavsson.
“It seems like those are the bounces weren’t quite getting the first couple of games,” Theodore said. “To have some of those go in and get some confidence from it is pretty big going forward.”
VGK@MIN, Gm4: Spurgeon buries it on the wraparound to tie it
Spurgeon responded 54 seconds later to tie it 3-3 with a wraparound for his first goal of the series.
Hill kept it 3-3, denying Yakov Trenin on the breakaway at 11:29.
“This is a series,” Foligno said. “They’re a heck of a team. Not going to be easy. It was a good game, both sides. This is what we expect. Best out of three going back to Vegas, and yeah, we’re in a good spot. Keep our heads up here. We played a hard game and it’s [going to] be the same effort in Vegas.”
NOTES: Barbashev scored his first career overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. … The Golden Knights earned their 10th third-period comeback win in the playoffs since their inaugural season in 2017-18, behind only the Colorado Avalanche (11) for the most among all teams. …Gustavsson became the first goaltender in Wild history with multiple 40-save games in the playoffs (also 51 in Game 1 of 2023 Western First Round).
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
