Power plays were at a premium in Wild’s Game 1 loss to Vegas Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS – Ryan Hartman and Vegas’ Nicolas Hague were battling for the puck along the boards, Hartman shoving Hague from behind until the Wild center was sprawled on his backside.

Hague turned and dropped Hartman to the ice with a stick to the face, but the cross-check didn’t result in a penalty.

Not much did in the Wild’s 4-2 loss Sunday night, the Wild getting sent to the box twice and the Golden Knights only once.

“That’s fine with us,” said Hartman, who was boarded in the third period to give the Wild their only power play. “It’s playoff hockey. I think we’re pretty happy with our team 5-on-5.”

The Wild have reason to be encouraged.

Despite trailing the Western Conference first-round best-of-seven series 1-0, they were even with Vegas at even strength. And if power plays stay at a premium, that could favor the Wild as they look to answer back in Game 2 on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena before returning to Minnesota.

“I’ve always been a fan of 5-on-5 hockey,” defenseman Jake Middleton said Monday. “I don’t get to play on the power play, and the kill is always a little nerve-racking. … You want to play best on best, 5-on-5 hockey, and I thought the way the game was officiated last night was great.

“You always want a little more, but we got away with some, too, right? So, give and take. No complaints about it.”

If the Wild were griping, who could blame them?

Tomas Hertl interfered with Frederick Gaudreau on the faceoff seconds before the Golden Knights scored on the power play in the second period to take a 2-1 lead — what Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy described as a pick. During ESPN’s intermission coverage, Mark Messier explained how the Golden Knights easily could have been penalized but because they weren’t, it caused a breakdown in the Wild’s coverage that ultimately led to a wide-open shot for Pavel Dorofeyev.

The Golden Knights’ second power-play goal was an empty-netter just before time expired to polish off their victory.

Vegas was the least-penalized team in NHL history during the regular season, getting whistled 197 times. While the Golden Knights’ power play was second in the league, their penalty kill ranked in the bottom third and didn’t fare much better than the Wild’s.

Coach John Hynes indicated he would talk to the referee supervisor for the series, but the Wild also remember how concentrating on the calls stung them in their last playoff series vs. Dallas in 2023 and they would rather focus on the opponent they’re playing.

“It was well-officiated,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “It was a good, clean game. That’s just the way we have to play, and it’s a team that we’re going up against that’s been smart all year. So, you’re going against a team that controls their emotions, and we gotta do the same thing.”

Hartman was the epitome of that in Game 1, and Hynes discussed that with the team.

Hynes noted there was “zero retaliation” from Hartman, Hartman channeled his competitiveness correctly, and he remained disciplined when “he could have [gone] off the rails.” He also assisted on Matt Boldy’s first goal and was promoted by Hynes from the fourth line as the game progressed.

“Great example of him not getting sucked into something maybe in the past he would have,” said Foligno, who also acknowledged that Hartman understands his situation and that with his past suspension history he isn’t going to always draw penalties.

“He’s in that mindset where he’s like: ‘OK, this is how it’s going to go. I just gotta suck it up and play for the team,’” Foligno explained, “and he’s doing a great job.”

Not only did the Wild and Vegas each score twice at 5-on-5, but the Wild actually generated more scoring chances and high-danger looks, according to Natural Stat Trick.

They also had the edge physically, the Wild’s 54 hits the second-most in a playoff game in franchise history.

“Talking to our defense, it’s tough when you got guys that you chip it in and they gotta go turn and they feel like you’re coming and they’re not making a great tape-to-tape pass. They’re rimming pucks, and that plays into our forecheck,” said Foligno, whose 11 hits were his career high for a playoff game. “If you do that over and over again and you stay above it, it’s grueling, right? It’s tough for anybody to feel that pressure every night.”

Still, the Wild have room to improve.

Only 20 of their 70 shot attempts actually reached the net, with 27 getting blocked by the Golden Knights.

“They got a big ‘D’ that can front shots and aren’t scared of sacrifice,” Foligno said, and the way to combat that is unleashing pucks from different angles like in the corner or at the half-wall where the shooting lane isn’t as predictable to plug up.

Hynes also brought up needing more impact from the bottom-six forward group, which he made clear will be addressed. He also mentioned everyone looked good health wise.

As for Zeev Buium, Hynes noticed the 19-year-old defenseman’s competitiveness in his NHL debut and that he worked at his defending in the “hard areas” of the ice.

“For a first game, yeah, were there some mistakes?” Hynes said. “I think every player on the ice made some mistakes. It gets a little magnified because of his position, but I think overall he played a solid game.”

So did the Wild as a whole, even if that wasn’t enough to defeat Vegas.

But they get to try again.

“There’s no frustration at all right now really,” Middleton said. “We were happy with the way we played. We’re confident in our game, and we just gotta keep doing that every game.”