Minnesota Wild-Vegas Golden Knights matchup chart

After a one-year hiatus, the Wild are back in the NHL playoffs, securing a Western Conference wild-card spot in the final 22 seconds of regulation in the final game of the regular season. Minnesota’s journey from the top of the NHL standings in early December to scrambling to reach the tournament can be traced to a rash of injuries to their best players. Now, a healthy Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin lead the Wild in a first-round matchup against Vegas.

Sunday: Wild at Vegas, 9 p.m. (ESPN, Fan Duel Sports Network)

Tuesday: Wild at Vegas, 10 p.m. (ESPN, Fan Duel Sports Network)

Thursday: Vegas at Wild, 8 p.m. (TBS, Fan Duel Sports Network)

Saturday, April 26: Vegas at Wild, 3 p.m. (TBS, Fan Duel Sports Network)

Tuesday, April 29 (if nec.): Wild at Vegas, TBD

Thursday, May 1 (if nec.): Vegas at Wild, TBD

Saturday, May 3 (if nec.): Wild at Vegas, TBD

Record, position: 45-30-7, 97 points, fourth in Central Division, top wild-card team in West.

Coach: John Hynes, second year with Wild, 79-54-12; 11th year as NHL coach, 363-309-75.

KEY PLAYERS

Kirill Kaprizov: Limited to 41 games because of a lower-body injury that required surgery, Kaprizov had the look of a Hart Trophy contender in the season’s first half, collecting 23 goals and 29 assists through 37 games. He has two goals and two assists since returning, and the Wild will need his offense to advance.

Joel Eriksson Ek: One of the NHL’s best two-way centers, Eriksson Ek has been a force since returning from a 21-game absence because of a leg injury. He scored four goals in his return and secured the playoff berth with a clutch tying goal against Anaheim on Tuesday by thriving in the dirty areas.

Brock Faber: The former Gopher from Maple Grove made a solid playoff debut in 2023, and he’ll be called on to stop the likes of Jack Eichel and Mark Stone while munching minutes like his season average of 25:32. As of late, Faber has shown a propensity to jump in on offense, and he had 10 goals and 19 assists this season.

MUST STEP UP

Matt Boldy: The fourth-year NHLer posted a career-high 73 points this season and scored 27 goals, closing strong with two goals and seven assists in the season’s final five games. Boldy also has 10 game-winners, and the Wild hope he can build on that because his two previous playoff appearances didn’t go well. He has one goal and three assists in 12 playoff games.

‘X’ FACTOR

Marcus Johansson: The speedy Swede was a difference-maker late this season, scoring a goal each in key wins over San Jose and Anaheim in the season’s final week. Johansson has 45 career playoff points, and the Wild are hopeful he can make an impact against Vegas.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Offense: The Wild averaged 2.74 goals per game in the regular season, which ranked 25th in the NHL. That figure was tied to absence of Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek, and when they were out, the Wild averaged only 2.22 goals per game. Boldy (27 goals), Kaprizov (25) and Marco Rossi (24) were the only Minnesota players to top 20 goals. The Wild will count on Mats Zuccarello (19) and Frederick Gaudreau (18) to deliver supplementary scoring.

Defense: Minnesota allows 2.88 goals per game, which ranked 14th in the NHL. The Wild’s defensive corps has contributed offense, with 16.9% of the team’s goals coming from the blue line. That’s the fifth-best percentage in the NHL.

Goaltending: Filip Gustavsson had a strong bounce-back season, dropping his goals-against average from 3.06 to 2.56 and increasing his save percentage from .899 to .914. The cage is his, while Marc-Andre Fleury begins his final postseason in a backup role. Fleury (2.93 GAA, .899 save percentage) showed there’s still saves in his 40-year-old body with an acrobatic overtime to beat Anaheim on Tuesday.

Special teams: The Wild’s power play ranked 20th in the league (20.9%) and its penalty kill was third-from-last at 72.4. The hope is that the return of Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Brodin will allow both units to improve. Minnesota also could get a boost from recently-signed defenseman Zeev Buium, who practiced with the first power play unit.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Kirill Kaprizov-Joel Eriksson Ek-Matt Boldy

Marcus Johansson-Frederick Gaudreau-Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Foligno-Marco Rossi-Gustav Nyqvist

Yakov Trenin-Ryan Hartman-Justin Brazeau/Vinnie Hinostroza

Defensemen

Jonas Brodin-Brock Faber

Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon

Zeev Buium-Zach Bogosian

Jon Merrill-Declan Chisholm

Goalies

Filip Gustavsson

Marc-Andre Fleury

Record, position: 50-22-10, 110 points, Pacific Division champions.

Coach: Bruce Cassidy, third year with Vegas, 145-74-26; 11th year overall, 438-229-88.

KEY PLAYERS

Jack Eichel: At 28, Eichel is enjoying the most productive season of his career in terms of points with 94 on 28 goals and a career-best 66 assists. The center’s plus-minus of plus-32 is tied for 10th in the league, and his ice time of 20:32 is the second-most in his career. Eichel has cooled off a bit in April, collecting only one goal in five games.

Tomas Hertl: The 31-year-old Czech center is poised to give the Wild problems in a couple of areas. First, his 14 power-play goals are tied for sixth in the NHL, and that will test Minnesota’s penalty kill. Second, he’s won 56% of his faceoffs, which gives Vegas a strength where the Wild are lacking.

Mark Stone: With 67 points on 19 goals and 48 assists, the 32-year-old center had his most productive regular season in seven years with Vegas. It’s the playoffs, however, where Stone shines, as evidenced by his 32 goals and 32 assists in 75 postseason games.

MUST STEP UP

Alex Pietrangelo: The 35-year-old defenseman has two Stanley Cup titles and 139 playoff games to his credit, so his presence is key for a Cup hopeful. Still, he’d like to rebound from last year’s playoff performance in which he had no goals and one assist in a seven-game ouster vs. Dallas.

‘X’ FACTOR

Pavel Dorofeyev: The 24-year-old Russian left winger had a breakthrough season, amassing 35 goals and 17 assists while playing 82 games in his second full season in the NHL. Dorofeyev is especially effective on the power play, ranking 11th in the NHL with 13 goals.

BREAKING IT DOWN

Offense: The Golden Knights average 3.34 goals per game, fifth-most in is the NHL. They’ve been especially strong in the third period, scoring an NHL-best 109 goals (2.66 per game) with a plus-41 goal differential in the period. With five players with 23 or more goals, Vegas has plenty of scoring options.

Defense: Vegas is the third-stingiest team in the NHL, allowing 2.61 goals per game, trailing only Winnipeg (2.32) and Los Angeles (2.44). If you want to score on the Golden Knights, your best bet is the second period, in which they have only a plus-3 goal differential.

Goaltending: Adin Hill has playoff chops, backstopping the Golden Knights to the 2023 Stanley Cup title by going 11-4 with a 2.17 GAA and .932 save percentage after replacing the injured Laurent Brossoit. This season, he’s won 32 games and has a 2.47 GAA and .906 save percentage.

Special teams: The Golden Knights are strong on the power play, connecting on 28.3% of their chances, which is second only to Winnipeg’s 28.9%. However, they’ve struggled on the penalty kill, stopping 75.7% of opponents’ chances, which ranks 27th.

PROJECTED LINES

Forwards

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone

Brandon Saad-Tomas Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev

Brett Howden-William Karlsson-Victor Olofsson

Tanner Pearson-Nicolas Roy-Keegan Kolesar/Reilly Smith

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore

Noah Hanafin-Alex Pietrangelo

Nicolas Hague-Zach Whitecloud

Spares: Kaeden Korczak, Ben Hutton

Goalies

Adin Hill

Ilya Samsonov