Golden Knights fend off Wild for high-scoring win

[December 13, 2021] Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty each had a goal and two assists, Zach Whitecloud scored twice and the host Vegas Golden Knights outlasted the Minnesota Wild for a 6-4 win on Sunday night.

Evgenii Dadonov contributed a goal and an assist for Vegas, which has won four of its past five. Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and Chandler Stephenson tallied four assists.

Alex Goligoski, Mats Zuccarello, Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Foligno each scored for Minnesota. Jared Spurgeon had three assists but the Wild lost for the second time in as many nights.

Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner stopped 23 of 27 shots to get the victory.

Minnesota goaltender Cam Talbot turned aside 30 of 35 shots.

Stone scored the tiebreaking goal on the power play with 15:18 remaining in the third period. He punched in a rebound from the left side of the net for his fourth goal.

Pietrangelo added an empty-net goal with 27.2 seconds left.
 

Vegas opened the scoring at 8:53 of the first period. Pacioretty fed a pass into the high slot for Whitecloud, who capitalized with a rising wrist shot.

The Wild evened the score about five minutes later during a delayed penalty. Goligoski fired a shot through traffic and into the net for his third goal.

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jordie Benn (8) deflects a shot attempt by Vegas Golden Knights left wing William Carrier (28) during the first period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Golden Knights regained a 2-1 lead on the power play with 2:45 left in the first period. Dadonov blasted a one-timer from the low slot after a perfectly placed pass from Stone.

Minnesota pulled even at 2-2 on a buzzer-beating, power-play goal. Zuccarello spotted a loose puck near the right side of the net and punched it in as time expired in the first period.

Nine seconds into the second period, the Wild grabbed a 3-2 advantage. Bjugstad scored on a wrist shot for his fourth goal.

Vegas evened the score at 3-3 less than six minutes later. Whitecloud scored his second goal of the game and his fifth of the season on a shot over Talbot's right shoulder.

Pacioretty made it 4-3 in favor of the Golden Knights with 6:08 remaining in the second period. He scored on a mini-breakaway for his 10th goal.

The Wild drew even at 4-4 on Foligno's 13th goal at 1:22 of the third period.

--Field Level Media

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.