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Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

3 Takeaways From the Wild’s 4-2 Game 1 Loss

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Mariah E. Stark | Last updated Apr 21, 2025 8:45 AM ET

The Minnesota Wild faced the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of Round 1 on Sunday evening, April 20 in Vegas. The Wild had their full roster healthy, and they had an addition on the blueline in Zeev Buium, who made his long-awaited NHL debut. Filip Gustavsson was in the net, and the Wild came out of the gates with a jump in their game.

The Wild had a faster step to their game than they had in the last week or so of the season, and they pushed back against the Golden Knights’ efforts all night. The Wild got behind first but battled back and continued to do so all night long. There were some mistakes they weren’t quite able to overcome, but it was a strong effort despite the 4-2 loss. We’ll look at what went right for the Wild and the few mistakes they need to fix before Game 2, starting with their overall team effort.

Wild Have Team Effort

Right from the start, the Wild had an all-around effort from everyone in the lineup. Although there were mistakes made, every member on the team was all in. The Wild knew they’d need to find another level to compete with the Golden Knights, and they did just that. Again, the Wild did lose, but they fought tooth and nail to stay within a goal until the final seconds.

Every line had at least a shot on goal, if not multiple, and even the fourth line got in on the action with Yakov Trenin forcing turnovers. The Wild have to focus on the effort they put in and work on building on it. Yes, they need to fix the mistakes, but they also need to pay attention to the good, or they can become overwhelmed and try to overcompensate, which will cause more errors.

It’s going to take a complete team effort to get through this series, and this was a great start despite the loss. Hopefully, they can harness this effort and step it up another notch for Game 2 and come out with a win.

Wild Find Ways to Respond

The Wild may have gotten down early, but they found ways to respond, mainly with the first line of Matt Boldy, Kirill Kaprizov, and Joel Eriksson Ek. They didn’t let the Golden Knights’ goals throw them off their game, and they forced their way back into the game, not once but twice. Both goals came from Boldy, with the first assist going to Kaprizov each time.

The goals weren’t the only way they responded, either; they fought back physically as well, outhitting the Golden Knights 54-29. This was part of the reason the Wild were able to keep in the game as well as they did. They didn’t allow the Golden Knights to run them over; they fought back but kept themselves in control.

As this series continues, the Wild have to keep finding ways to respond like they did in Game 1. It may not have worked out in the end, but they kept at it until the end. Now that they know what they need to do, they can respond even better.

Wild Have Things to Fix

The main issue the Wild need to fix is winning faceoffs, especially on the special teams. They had forced their way to a tie game when they took a penalty, lost the faceoff, and the Golden Knights scored just four seconds into the power play. If the Wild had won that faceoff, it’s possible they would have killed off the penalty, and the game would have gone in a different direction.

The same can be said for their power play, which they spent most of the time chasing the puck rather than taking shots. If the Wild want to win games in this series, they have to step up and force faceoff wins. It doesn’t mean they win the drop right away, but the actual battle that ensues, they can win those, and they can outmuscle the Golden Knights.

The other item they can work on is making sure Gustavsson can see the shots coming, but also step up to block when they can. It’s hard to block a shot and not block Gustavsson’s vision, but they have to make sure they keep that puck from getting through, especially when he can’t see it. Hopefully, the Wild have noticed that these are mistakes that can be fixed and continue to play hard, as they did all night.

Wild Can Win

The Wild once again may have lost this game, but they proved they have the ability to stay with the Golden Knights and score against them. After the Golden Knights got the first goal on the board, it looked like the Wild were in for another tough battle, but they didn’t back down like they tended to do a few weeks ago. Instead, they answered back and played the playoff hockey everyone was hoping for. If they can maintain the same effort and clean up their mistakes, they can win Game 2 and possibly more.