The Wild defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 1-0 in overtime of Game 1 of their First Round series Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the game in the latest edition of the Postgame Hat Trick, powered by Xcel Energy:
1. One Ek of a game.
Sixty minutes wasn't enough in this one, but a few minutes into overtime, Joel Eriksson Ek won it for Minnesota, banking a shot in off defenseman Alec Martinez for a 1-0 victory.
It was the second time in postseason history the Wild was on the winning end of a 1-0 playoff win (Mikael Granlund, vs. COL in 2014).
The goal continued an incredible season for Ek, who finished with a career-high 19 goals during the regular season.
He's now got one HUGE one in the playoffs.
Video: MIN@VGK, Gm1: Eriksson Ek buries OT winner in Game 1
2. A low-scoring affair.
Vegas came out firing in the first period, outshooting Minnesota 19-5. But the Wild battled back in the second, securing 13 shots and nearly scoring on a couple of occasions, if not for the efforts of Marc-Andre Fleury, who made nice glove saves on Ryan Hartman and Nick Bjugstad, among others.
On the other end, Cam Talbot was outstanding in the opening 20 minutes. The first half of the first period was rather even, but a couple of icings really put the Wild in a bind and put pressure on Talbot to backstop his club. He did just that.
A low-scoring game was probably no surprise, however.
Talbot was ranked among the NHL leaders in goals-against average and save percentage for a large portion of the regular season. Fleury had his best season as a pro and, along with Robin Lehner, won the Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals against as a tandem.
3. All Hart.
What a game Ryan Hartman had. The winger-turned-centerman had chance after chance in this one, only to see his efforts snuffed out at every turn by Fleury.
And it wasn't just run-of-the-mill shots either. Hartman had a handful of grade-A chances, including a partial breakaway with under a minute left in regulation.
Hartman had perhaps Minnesota's four or five best scoring chances on the day and was one of the best players on the ice for either team. Unfortunately he wasn't rewarded on the scoresheet.
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