ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ivan Barbashev scored at 17:26 of overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in Game 4 on Saturday to even their first-round playoff series.
Nicolas Roy and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and assist, and Shea Theodore also scored for the Pacific Division champion Golden Knights. Adin Hill made 29 saves.
Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves, including a pair of sprawling left pad saves of Reilly Smith’s attempts with 3:49 left in regulation.
Game 5 is in Vegas on Tuesday, with Game 6 on Thursday back in Minnesota.
Late in the extra period, Roy’s centering attempt deflected off Wild defenseman Jake Middleton and Barbashev knocked in the loose puck off a scramble in front. It was his first goal of the playoffs after scoring 23 in the regular season.
With the Golden Knights trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Roy scored off a scramble during a four-minute power play at 4:50. Vegas then took the lead midway through the period when a shot from Mark Stone deflected off Hertl, who was on the ice tangled up with Ryan Hartman.
However, Spurgeon countered 54 seconds later for Minnesota on a wraparound to tie it 3-3.
The Wild were 29-0-0 when leading after two periods in the regular season, the only team with a perfect record when holding a lead after 40 minutes of play.
Theodore and Rossi exchanged first-period goals before Foligno gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead early in the second.
A leap by Foligno knocked a fluttering puck down in front of the Vegas net, setting off a scramble that ended with Foligno shoveling the puck in for his third goal of the series.
Minnesota played without left wing Marcus Johansson who left Thursday’s Game 3 in the third period with a lower-body injury. Coach John Hynes did not provide a timeline for his potential return. Vinnie Hinostroza slotted in for the Wild.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Mike Cook, The Associated Press
