Wild overtime: Takeaways after Vegas rallies and ties playoff series with OT victory

The lineup card for the Vegas Golden Knights had Jack Eichel centering Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series against the Wild on Saturday. That trio had combined for no points in the first three games of the series, so Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy did some in-game tinkering.

Cassidy moved Eichel to left wing on the first line with William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. Stone was at right wing on the third line with Brett Howden and Tanner Pearson. And Barbashev dropped to fourth-line right winger, with Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar.

The moves turned out to be productive for the Golden Knights, who won 4-3 on Barbashev’s goal at 17:26 of overtime. The Russian winger also assisted on Shea Theodore’s first-period goal, while Eichel and Stone each had an assist. The trio combined for nine shots on goal, led by Stone’s four.

“Jack and Stoney are two drivers, and we’ve said that many times that in a perfect world they probably would have been split at some point, but it worked out,‘’ Cassidy said. “They got off to such a good start to the year, and other things fell into place. They just, for whatever reason, weren’t clicking, so sometimes a little time apart [helps].‘’

After Game 1, Wild coach John Hynes saw the energy and determination with which Ryan Hartman was playing and knew he needed to move the center up a line.

For Game 2, Hartman took over as pivot on the third line, and Hynes put playoff rookie Marco Rossi on the fourth line. Hartman had an assist a 5-2 Wild win that evened the series at a game apiece. The move paid off even more in Thursday’s Game 3, when Hartman had another assist, and Rossi scored a goal and assisted on another in a 5-2 triumph.

On Saturday, Hynes made another move, this one out of necessity. With Marcus Johansson out because of a lower body injury, Hynes did some shuffling. He moved Hartman to the second line, centering Marcus Foligno and Mats Zuccarello. Frederick Gaudreau dropped to the third line, centering Gustav Nyquist and Vinnie Hinostroza. Rossi remained on the fourth line, centering Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau.

Hartman and Rossi produced again, but it wasn’t enough as Vegas evened the series.

Hartman’s energy and productivity was on display on Foligno’s goal-ahead goal at 1:24 of the second period. Hartman worked to control the puck at the right side of the net but couldn’t complete a pass. Undaunted, he collected the puck, circled around the zone and fired a shot that hit traffic in front of the net. The puck bounced to Zuccarello, who passed to Hartman. Goalie Adin Hill gave up a rebound on Hartman’s shot, but Foligno backhanded the puck for the goal before Hill could recover.

“Hartsie’s been good, really good,‘’ Hynes said. “… I like the combination of his competitiveness, and he’s a willing skater. When he does those two things and he’s focused in, he can have an impact from an offensive perspective, so it’s nice to see him at his best at the best time of the year.‘’

Hartman was involved in a key play in which Vegas took a 3-2 lead in the third period.

With Hartman and Tomas Hertl battling for position, Hertl drove Hartman to the ice and appeared to hold him there. Meanwhile, Stone gathered the puck and unleashed a shot that hit Hertl and caromed in for a 3-2 Golden Knights lead at 10:03 of the third.

“We’re just out there playing hockey,‘’ Hartman said. “Obviously when there’s a penalty, they’ll be called. Just gotta keep moving our legs.‘’

The Wild tied it 3-3 only 54 seconds later when defenseman Jared Spurgeon beat Hill on a wraparound.

Foligno entered Saturday’s game with 27 hits in the series and delivered eight more in Game 4, but he’s not the only Wild player who’s making an impact with his hitting. Trenin is getting in on the physical act, too.

Rossi knotted the score 1-1 at 10:43 of the first with his second goal in as many games. Assisting on it were Brazeau and Trenin, and it was Trenin’s physical work that made the play happen.

Trenin raced from the left wing boards, delivered a crunching hit to Nicolas Hague behind the net, separating the Vegas defenseman from the puck, then backhanded a pass to Brazeau at the side of the net. Brazeau quickly tapped the puck to Rossi in the slot for the equalizer.

Trenin, who finished with seven hits, had a breakaway in the third period, but Hill squeezed his pads to make the save.

After going 0-for-4 on the power play during Game 3 on Thursday, Vegas scored twice with the man advantage Saturday, finishing 2-for-5.

The first goal came in the first period. After Hinostroza absorbed a hit that had Wild fans screaming for a cross-checking penalty, the winger was called for high-sticking at 5:15. Theodore, who entered Game 4 with a minus-6 rating, wired a shot through a screen and beat Filip Gustavsson for a 1-0 lead at 6:47. Eichel and Barbashev assisted on the goal for their first points of the series.

Wild defenseman Zeev Buium took a high-sticking double-minor for drawing blood from Stone at 1:48 of the third period. The Wild killed off 3:02 the penalty, but Roy’s rebound goal at 4:50 tied the score 2-2.

“We just didn’t get some bounces tonight,‘’ Hynes said of the penalty kill. “We got good saves, got good attention to detail, killed well.‘’

Minnesota went 0-for-2 on the power play, including one at 8:09 of overtime when Roy was called for holding.

Buium did not see the ice in overtime as Hynes kept the inexperienced rookie on the bench.