The Wild worked through errors, sluggishness and a goalie change, and then Gustav Nyquist earned a spot in Minnesota sports lore by going offsides.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
The Wild’s Ryan Hartman shoots on Vegas goaltender Adin Hill during the third period of Game 5. He got the puck past Hartman, but the play didn’t survive a review for offsides. (David Becker/The Associated Press)
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The Wild’s deeply unsatisfying playoff history is littered with squandered opportunities and a litany of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve laments.
They added another doozy to the ledger Tuesday night.
This one will be harder to swallow than others if the Wild don’t pick themselves off the canvas and win the next two games to keep their season alive. And Gustav Nyquist will become a trivia answer in the Minnesota sports history of heartbreak if the season ends with another first-round playoff exit.
Game 5 in a 2-2 series has historically been a pivotal game that decides the series at a high percentage.
The Wild literally were inches and seconds away from putting themselves in the driver’s seat after failing to seize command of the series at home in Game 4.
This loss will haunt more than that one because they Wild had overcome self-inflicted mistakes, sluggish play and an emergency goalie switch to pull off what looked like a Houdini-esque escape in Vegas.
And then it vanished when Nyquist, a disappointment since arriving in a trade in early March, was offsides, wiping away Hartman’s potential game-winning goal. Vegas challenged for offsides after officials also reviewed the goal to make sure Hartman didn’t kick the puck into the net.
The Wild played on their heels too much in the first two periods, saved only by Gustavsson’s strong effort in goal and timely stick deflections by others around the crease.
A pair of undisciplined penalties disrupted the second period. Hartman batted the puck into the crowd. The Wild killed that penalty, but they were even strength for only seconds before Marcus Foligno needlessly threw a Vegas player to the ice to earn a holding penalty. The Wild killed that penalty, too.
The switch to Fleury in the third period gave the Wild a spark. They showed more urgency, skated to the net with force and defended hard in front of Fleury, who went nearly 15 minutes before being forced to make his first save.
Matt Boldy tied the game 2-2 by driving hard to the net with Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo in his hip pocket. Boldy fended him off and maneuvered to get a shot on net for his fifth goal of the series.
Hartman’s redemption series appeared to have a defining moment when he bullied his way for a goal with 1:15 left. The goal survived the first review. The second review put a dagger into the hearts of Wild fans.
The Wild are suddenly out of wiggle room after leading the series 2-1, leading in the third period of Game 4 and getting inches away from winning Game 5. That’s how fast a series can flip if a team doesn’t slam the door shut.
The Wild have learned that lesson too many times in previous postseasons. They got another painful reminder that will be difficult to forget if this series ends in similar fashion.
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