Despite scoring nearly five goals per game over their past six wins and facing a Vegas Golden Knights team without stars Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo, the Minnesota Wild were out to prove they could win a low-scoring affair against the league’s stingiest defensive team and a Vezina candidate in Marc-Andre Fleury.
That they did, as a first-period snipe by Kevin Fiala was all the Wild would need in a 2-0 victory, thanks to strong play by the Minnesota defense and a lights-out performance by rookie Kaapo Kahkonen, who earned his first career shutout by calmly stopping every one of the Golden Knights 26 shots on net.