The Wild defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 of it's First Round series Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
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. Seven up.
After six games, we're all even in this crazy, unpredictable, back-and-forth series. The seventh and deciding game will take place on Friday night in Las Vegas, as the Wild returns to Sin City for the third and final time in the past week and a half.
When the Knights led this best-of-7 series by a 3-1 margin, it looked like Minnesota might be in trouble, heading back to a loud and boisterous T-Mobile Arena.
Instead, the Wild went into a hostile barn and forced a Game 6 in St. Paul. Minnesota used that opportunity to improve to 5-3 all time in Game 6s.
For the Wild, it will be the fourth Game 7 in franchise history and first since 2014. Minnesota's record in Game 7s? A perfect 3-0, with all three games having come on the road.
2. All Hart.
With the teams in a tight-checking slugfest of a hockey game, it was the Wild that got the first real rush chance.
Video: VGK@MIN, Gm6: Hartman opens the scoring in the 3rd
After a nice headman pass by Zach Parise, who saw Kevin Fiala headed up the ice with speed, Fiala fed the puck over to Ryan Hartman, who fired top shelf over a sprawling Marc-Andre Fleury for a 1-0 lead at 4:21 of the third period.
For Parise, it was his second point in three games since entering the series for the first time in Game 4.
Video: VGK@MIN, Gm6: Fiala fires shot under the pad for PPG
For Fiala, it was his first point of any kind in the series ... but not his last of the night. His power-play goal later in the third pushed the Wild lead to two goals.
For Hartman, it was his second goal of the playoffs as he continues to be fantastic in this series.
3. Hit squad.
With no Ryan Reaves and Brayden McNabb in the lineup for Vegas, Minnesota picked up the hitting on Wednesday night, with a number of memorable collisions in the game.
The Wild really got after it in the second period, when Marcus Foligno hit Zach Whitecloud so hard while getting in on the forecheck that the glass came out of the stanchion.
That elicited a roar from the Xcel Energy Center crowd.
A few minutes later, Matt Dumba crushed Alex Tuch with an open-ice hit that, had Foligno not been there to break Tuch's fall, might have sent the former Wild forward parallel to the ice surface.
While the hit was clean, Alec Martinez took exception and dropped the mitts with Dumba, who wrestled him to the ground. On his way to the penalty box, Dumba egged on the crowd to get loud ... and of course, they obliged.
Video: VGK@MIN, Gm6: Bjugstad scores in 3rd period
Minnesota's physical play really made life difficult for Vegas to get much of anything cooking in the offensive zone.
While the energy didn't result in any offense in the immediate aftermath, it did help fuel the Wild in the third, where it pumped three goals past Fleury.
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