What We Learned About the Minnesota Wild in Brutal Self-Induced Gm 5 Loss vs Knights

Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Wild went back to Las Vegas for game five vs the Golden Knights feeling confident, after outplaying Vegas in the first four games of a series tied at 2-2.

They entered the contest with all sorts of questions surrounding the new look line combinations. Marcus Johansson was back on the ice after missing game four with an injury. Meanwhile, Marco Rossi remained buried on the fourth line, while top prospect Zeev Buium was relegated to the press box.

Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Would John Hynes’ decision to scratch Buium and continue to mistreat Rossi pay off with a road win in game five? That was the big question that he and the Minnesota Wild hoped to come out on the right side of, come the final horn on Wednesday night.

Of course, nothing can come easy. Just like game four, game five ended took overtime to settle. And just like game four, OT did not go in the Wild’s favor. But, they have nobody to blame but themselves for tonight’s 3-2 OT loss. Here’s what we learned from the Minnesota Wild game five vs the Vegas Golden Knights.

After Zeev Buium committed the costly high-sticking penalty in the third period of game four, not only did it cost the Minnesota Wild their late lead, but it forced head coach John Hynes to sit him on the bench for all of overtime.

That too wound up being a mistake because, after rotating shifts for nearly 20 minutes, Jake Middleton was so tired by the end of OT that he was off his skates and out of position for the game-winning goal, scored by Ivan Barbashev with 2:34 remaining in the first and only overtime period.

So for game five, instead of entrusting Buium with more responsibility, the Wild put him up in the press box, replaced by Jon Merrill, who recently returned from injury and hasn’t played a game yet this postseason. Quickly, that proved to be a mistake.

Jon Merrill might force the Wild to trust Zeev Buium in game 6 whether Hynes and Guerin are ready or not. pic.twitter.com/6LngCq2NvI

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) April 30, 2025

The Minnesota Wild got the first power play of tonight’s contest. Unfortunately, it ended in a shorthanded goal for Vegas. Why? Because, without Buium available to play the point on the first power play unit, the Wild went with five forwards.

After a turnover in the Golden Knights zone, that proved costly because Boldy looked absolutely lost trying to defend and it ended in a wide open net for Jack Eichel… which never ends well. If you read all the way to the bottom of this article, you’ll see how Merrill helped Vegas put the OT nail in Minnesota’s game five coffin too.

Let’s Go Wild BILL 🤠 pic.twitter.com/Yg6CVTQgy8

— y-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 30, 2025

The Minnesota Wild came out in game one playing pretty good hockey. If not for mistakes by a fish-out-of-water Matt Boldy trying to play point on the power play, the Wild may have won that. While they played pretty well, Vegas won the period on the scoreboard 2-1 and peppered Gustavsson with 16 shots on net, to the Wild’s 9.

In the 2nd period, the Golden Knights got less shots off (9 SOG), but they fully dominated the period. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild (7 SOG) left Gustavsson hung out to dry multiple times. In that ugly middle period, Minnesota looked disorganized and their forwards were way too reckless with the puck.

Unlike in the 1st period, however, the Wild never paid for it, even as the Golden Knights got high percentage chance after high percentage chance. Thankfully, Filip Gustavsson buckled down in the second period, allowing the Wild to stay in the game and go into the 3rd down only one goal.

But when the Minnesota Wild came out of the locker room for the 3rd period, Gustavsson was nowhere to be found. Later, we found out he was dealing with an illness that prevented him from going back in net, meaning Marc-Andre Fleury made his 18th postseason appearance, in his place.

It didn’t take long for Marc-André Fleury to get in the mix 🌀 pic.twitter.com/wvaeebZQnM

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 30, 2025

And he took the baton from Gustavsson and continued with more really impressive play in goal, in part thanks to a much better effort from the skaters in front of him, something Filip did not get before he exited the contest.

In the third period, the Minnesota Wild came out of the intermission with their hair on fire. With Marc-Andre in net to replace the sick Filip Gustavsson, the skaters in front of him had a different intensity and it showed.

But out of anybody, it was Matt Boldy who was skating circles around Vegas defenders. And 3:31 into the third, he was paid off for his efforts with a game-tying goal that flipped this playoff contest on its head.

After an incredible cross-ice pass by Joel Eriksson Ek, Boldy came crossed the blue line, beautifully boxed the defenseman out as he skated around the crease, before flipping the puck back across Aden Hill’s body and over his left shoulder for an absolutely stunning goal.

BOLDS LIGHTS THE LAMP🚨#EasyToCelebrate x @budlight pic.twitter.com/nwA3hH4NRq

— x – Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) April 30, 2025

From there, after a stupid Gustav Nyquist offsides penalty wiped out the Wild’s game-winning goal with just over a minute left in regulation, the game ended up in overtime, and it did not go well.

After losing all six faceoffs in OT, Brett Howden finally put one past Marc Andre-Fleury, and the game was over. The Minnesota Wild have struggled in the faceoff circle since as long as I can remember… and they never seem all that concerned about fixing it.

Well, in game five that came back to bite them yet again. Oh, and notice who missed his defensive assignment on the game-winner. Jon Merrill. And now, the Wild head back to St. Paul with their 2025 playoff lives on the line. And they have nobody to blame but themselves.