Physicality Favors Wild Over Golden Knights

The Minnesota Wild dominated the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of their opening round series. The win gave the Wild a 2-1 series lead, to the surprise of many.

A key to the Wild's winning ways over the Golden Knights is their physical game. The entire team has bought into this mentality and approach, and it's wearing down Vegas in this series.

Through three games, the Wild have outhit the Golden Knights by a wide margin. In Game 1, they recorded 54 hits compared to the Golden Knights' 29. They followed that up with 37 hits to Vegas' 30. Game 3, the Knights finally gained the edge in hits, but it didn't have the same effect.

The Wild are grinding the Golden Knights down. It's being led by three Minnesota forwards: Marcus Foligno, Yakov Trenin, and Justin Brazeau. Each player is rugged, eager to engage physically, and knows their role. Foligno is a veteran leader, and he's been noticeable on every shift. Through three games, Foligno has 27 hits, Trenin has 15, and Brazeau has 14.

But it's not just these depth forwards throwing their bodies around every shift. Top players, like Matthew Boldy, Ryan Hartman, and Joel Eriksson Ek are perfect examples of incorporating physicality. Boldy and Eriksson Ek both have seven hits through three games.

That uniform team mentality and approach is creating a winning situation for Minnesota. Their physicality is letting the Wild get to their offensive game while also helping to stifle the Vegas attack.

The Golden Knights are equally willing to engage physically, but they are a team built on speed and skill. The last thing they want is for their top players, like Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, or Pavel Dorofyev, to continually deal with the pesky nature of the Wild's bottom-six.

The physicality overwhelmingly favors the Wild. They have the roster construction for it, and their team mentality revolves around that physical intensity. It's led to a 2-1 series lead so far, and could be the key for the Wild to get past the Golden Knights.