Takeaways: Marcus Johansson's four-point night lifts Wild past Golden Knights 5-2

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec 30, 2025

Published in Hockey

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LAS VEGAS — The Wild are out west for the rest of their season-long road trip, and they had no trouble adjusting to the time change.

They were ready from the get-go, scoring 26 seconds into the first and second periods — a franchise first — en route to a 5-2 rout of the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

Marcus Johansson factored in all but one goal, tying his career high with a four-point effort that included the Wild’s first goal to go along with three assists.

His linemates Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and assist apiece.

The blue line also chipped in, with captain Jared Spurgeon tallying a goal and assist and Jonas Brodin picking up two assists.

Filip Gustavsson made 14 saves and is 6-0-1 in his past seven starts.

This improved the Wild to 2-0 against Vegas since the Golden Knights knocked the Wild out of the playoffs last season.

Vegas was missing Jack Eichel, Shea Theodore and William Karlsson due to injuries and has struggled lately, with only one win in its last six games.

How it happened

The Wild were in control from the drop of the puck ... literally.

After Eriksson Ek won the initial faceoff, the Wild skated into Golden Knights territory and set up Johansson for a one-timer at 26 seconds; Spurgeon passed off to Brodin, who threaded the cross-zone pass to Johansson in the right faceoff circle.

But the score wasn’t Vegas’ only deficit.

The Golden Knights were down a player barely 2 minutes into the game after Tomas Hertl was ejected for boarding Ryan Hartman. Vegas killed off the ensuing five-minute power play for the Wild, but the Wild still doubled their lead before the period ended: Johansson cleared the puck to Eriksson Ek for a 2-on-1 with Boldy that Boldy buried with 5:54 left after Eriksson Ek’s pass went through Golden Knights defenseman Ben Hutton’s legs.

Turning point

The Wild were even sharper in the second, running away from Vegas on three goals in 6:30.

Johansson, Eriksson Ek and Boldy were back on the ice for the first shift alongside Brodin and Spurgeon and after another faceoff win by Eriksson Ek, Brodin and Johansson assisted on a snapshot by Spurgeon that was also 26 seconds into the period; it was the first time in franchise history the Wild scored in the opening 30 seconds of multiple periods.

Brock Faber sunk a seeing-eye point shot at 4:32, and then the Wild’s tried-and-true trio capitalized again: Johansson sent a no-look backhand pass to Boldy, who threw the puck at a net-crashing Eriksson Ek for a deflection with his back to the net. The goal, at 6:56, chased Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart from the game; he left with seven saves, and Akira Schmid had 15 stops in relief.

Johansson’s last four-point game was March 28, 2017, vs. the Wild when the veteran winger was with Washington. His 12 goals are one more than he had in each of his last two seasons.

Vegas responded with 3:10 to go in the second period on a shot by Brayden McNabb during a rare extended shift in the Wild’s zone by the Golden Knights.

Mark Stone added another goal 2:14 into the third.

Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play.

Key stat

Johansson, Eriksson Ek and Boldy combined for eight points, a successful reunion for the line after Eriksson Ek and Boldy teamed up with Kirill Kaprizov late in the Wild’s 4-3 overtime rally at Winnipeg on Saturday.

What it means

Vegas wasn’t at full strength, but that doesn’t take away from the Wild’s performance.

Although they scored early, the Wild could have lost momentum after not taking advantage on their five-minute power play; the Wild also whiffed on a delay-of-game penalty after Vegas unsuccessfully challenged the Wild’s third goal for a missed stoppage.

But they were locked in and just as impressive defensively as they were offensively: Aside from his two assists, Brodin had two key shot blocks on the penalty kill in the first period, and denying the Golden Knights in the first period paved the way for the Wild to pull away in the second for a convincing victory.

Up next

The Wild will close out 2025 with a New Year’s Eve matinee at San Jose.

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