Wild’s Eriksson Ek scores lone goal in OT to top Vegas in playoff opener
Between hard hitting, fast skating, a torrid pace, spectacular goaltending — Game 1 of the first-round series between the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday had everything but a goal in regulation.
The scoring drought ended with Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal at 3:20 of overtime that lifted the Wild past Vegas 1-0, helping Minnesota take home-ice advantage in the series.
Wild goaltender Cam Talbot stopped all 42 shots he faced and improved to 7-4-2 in 13 starts against the Golden Knights.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
The Wild improved to 6-1-2 against Vegas this season, including 3-1-1 at T-Mobile Arena. But grabbing the home-ice edge was critical for the Wild, who are 6-0-2 all-time against the Golden Knights in Minnesota.
Minnesota ranks first in the NHL in wins and standings points against the Golden Knights since Vegas entered the league in 2017.
Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury, the first goalie in NHL history to play in 15 consecutive postseasons, made 29 saves. Fleury dropped to 7-14-0 in 21 starts against Minnesota.
After Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo failed to clear the puck, Eriksson Ek was in the slot to send a shot that went off the skate of Golden Knights defender Alec Martinez and past Fleury.
ISLANDERS 4, PENGUINS 3, OT » Kyle Palmieri scored his second goal of the game at 16:30 of overtime to give the New York Islanders a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Palmieri collected a pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau near the goal line and lifted it over Tristan Jarry and into the net as New York beat the Penguins for the first time in five tries at PPG Paints Arena this season.
Pageau and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders. Rookie goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves in his playoff debut and New York handed Pittsburgh its 10th playoff loss in the franchise’s past 11 postseason games.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.
Sidney Crosby, Frederick Gaudreau and Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Penguins, but the East Division champions couldn’t capitalize despite controlling play for most of the first two periods. Jarry finished with 37 saves but had issues with his glove side. All four of New York goals sailed over, around or seemingly through Jarry’s left arm. LIGHTNING 5, PANTHERS 4 » Brayden Point scored two late goals, breaking a tie with 1:14 left to give defending champion Tampa Bay a 5-4 victory over Florida in Game 1. Point tied it at 4 with seven minutes to go on a power play, then skated in on a breakaway and backhanded the puck past Bobrovsky for the winner.
Nikita Kucherov scored two power-play goals in his first appearance of the season, Blake Coleman had a short-handed goal, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves.
Game 2 is Tuesday night.