Wild miss a golden opportunity, lose 4-3 to Golden Knights in overtime in Game 4

The Wild knew what they were up against, and it wasn’t just the Golden Knights.

History wasn’t on the Wild’s side, with Game 4 the line in the sand during this core’s past two playoff pursuits: after a pair of victories over St. Louis three years ago, they never won again. Same the next year against Dallas.

Plenty has changed, from personnel to philosophy, but the Wild still have to prove they’re different this time.

On Saturday, they came close, but their 4-3 overtime loss to the Golden Knights at Xcel Energy Center evened the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series 2-2 and put the Wild at a familiar crossroads.

They’re 0-5 all-time with a chance to go up 3-1.

Game 5 is Tuesday back in Las Vegas.

“We had to win two games this morning. We still have to win two games,” Ryan Hartman said. “Nothing has really changed.”

Vegas’ star players finally made a difference, their arrival culminating with Ivan Barbashev whacking in the puck with 2 minutes, 34 seconds to go in overtime after a failed clear by the Wild’s Jake Middleton led to a scramble in front of goaltender Filip Gustavsson, who racked up 42 saves.

The tough break stayed on script, with the Wild forcing extra hockey after a string of non-calls, one glaring penalty and a fluky deflection.

This the Wild’s first loss when leading after two periods this season; they had been 31-0.

“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought series,” coach John Hynes said. “We really like our game. We’re here, man. We’ll just keep grinding.”

Down 2-1, the Golden Knights received a four-minute power play in the third period after Mark Stone was cut and bleeding near his right eye from a high stick by Wild rookie Zeev Buium.

After getting through the first 3:01, the Wild couldn’t clear the front of the net and Nicolas Roy pounced on a loose puck at 4:50 for the equalizer.

Then 10:03 into the period, the Wild got burned by an unusual play: Stone’s centering feed caromed in off Tomas Hertl’s right skate as Hertl was getting up from taking down Hartman, which went unpenalized. The assist was Stone’s first point of the playoffs.

“Maybe they’re just calling blatant ones to be safe,” Marcus Foligno said. “There’s not much you can do on a high-sticking call, right? I thought for the most part they let us play again. If we get into a ref battle, we got bigger things to worry about with their top players.”

The Wild, who built their season on resilience, retaliated 53 seconds later when captain Jared Spurgeon sank a wrap-around.

Although they kept getting looks — including a power play in overtime after Joel Eriksson Ek was held while crashing the crease for a near goal — it was a full-circle finish for Barbashev: he and Jack Eichel assisted on the power-play goal that gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 head start 6:47 into the first period, the two picking up their first points of the series on Shea Theodore’s shot through traffic.

After Yakov Trenin collided with Nicolas Hague on the forecheck, Trenin funneled the puck to the front of the Vegas net for Marco Rossi to bury his second goal in as many games at 10:43; the fourth line capitalized on a similar play in Game 3, with Trenin’s strength setting up Rossi.

Only 1:24 into the second period, Foligno backhanded in a Hartman rebound for his third goal of the postseason after coming into the series with just two career tallies.

Hartman’s assist was his fourth, and ninth point in his past nine playoff games. That line remained a factor despite a new look, with Mats Zuccarello joining Hartman and Foligno and Vinnie Hinostroza subbing in alongside Frederick Gaudreau and Gustav Nyquist; Marcus Johansson was out with a lower-body injury from a hit in Game 3.

The Wild kept that 2-1 separation the rest of the second thanks to Gustavsson and the penalty kill, which denied two Golden Knights power plays to finish 3-for-5; Middleton’s seven shot blocks tied for the second most in a Wild playoff game.

But the power play blanked on two chances vs. Adin Hill, who made 29 saves in his return to the crease after getting pulled in Game 3.

“The feeling in the locker room is very good,” Gustavsson said. “Everyone has a lot of confidence right now. If we’re playing like we’re playing today and last game, we have a really good chance at beating this team.”

As the underdog, the Wild turning the series into a best-of-three looks good on them.

They’ve challenged Vegas, and forced coach Bruce Cassidy to break up his top line of Barbashev-Eichel-Stone. The Golden Knights’ joyous celebration after Barbashev’s game-winner was indicative of how close they were to falling behind 3-1.

“Love where we’re at,” Hynes said.

In light of what’s happened before, though, the Wild still have to show they’re not who they used to be.

Perhaps this Game 4 was the start of that rather than the beginning of the end.

“I like our group,” Foligno said. “I like the experience that we have from those previous playoff runs where we’re right there. We have a lead and penalties, it is what it is, but we worked really hard tonight.

“The way we answered and came back after their goal is the mental toughness that we’ve been showing all year. Two-two doesn’t scare us.”