LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brett Howden had never scored double-digit goals until this season. Then he went out and scored 23.
Turns out, Howden isn't finished.
He had what turned out to be the game-winning goal and later delivered an empty netter, and the Vegas Golden Knights opened their first-round Western Conference playoffs series with a 4-2 victory Sunday night over the Minnesota Wild.
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said he told Howden to stick with what he did in the regular season rather than try to do too much in the playoffs. Howden had just six career postseason goals before this game.
“He didn't change his game,” Cassidy said. “He played physical. He's part of our penalty kill. He's always out when the goalie's out, typically one of the six guys we use a lot because of his versatility. He can play wing. He can take draws as a center. He's been real good for us all year and good again tonight.”
Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights.
“I've been long excited for this moment,” Hertl said. “I always try to play my game, and I think it's kind of playoff style. I'm glad I could help the team today. It was a team effort.”
Pavel Dorofeyev scored the other Vegas goal, and Adin Hill made 18 saves.
Matt Boldy scored both Wild goals, Kirill Kaprizov assisted on both and Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
“I think both teams came to play hard,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Pretty strong defensive efforts. Not a lot of special teams in the game. I thought we did a lot of good things to build on moving forward.”
Both teams traded goals in the first period. Hertl took the puck from Minnesota's Brock Faber and hit the net from just inside the front side of the left circle. The Wild answered 2:20 later when Kaprizov delivered a cross-ice pass to Boldy, who scored off the rush.
Dorofeyev scored the only goal in the second period when Hertl won the faceoff to open a power play. The puck went to Shea Theodore, who skated to the center and set up Dorofeyev for a blast from the right circle. Dorofeyev has scored goals in three consecutive games going back to the end of the regular season.
Howden extended the Vegas lead to 3-1 early in the third period, but Boldy's wrap-around goal with 8:14 left brought Minnesota to within one. Howden added an empty-netter with less than 1 second remaining, the Golden Knights' second power-play goal.
Wild 19-year-old defenseman Zeev Buium made his NHL debut by playing on the third pair with Zach Bogosian. He played 13:37 with a shot on goal. Buium was playing for Denver just 10 days earlier in the NCAA's Frozen Four.
Linesman Bryan Pancich left the game 3:37 into the second period after a collision with Howden. Backup official Frederick L’Ecuyer took Pancich’s place.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
