Brett Howden the hero again as Golden Knights take control of series with Wild

Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) celebrates after scoring the winning goal in overtime of game five in an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Photo by: Steve Marcus

The Golden Knights are one victory away from advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Vegas won a second straight overtime game against the Minnesota Wild in the team's opening-round series Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena when Brett Howden blasted in a goal at 4:05 of the extra period.

Golden Knights 3, Wild 2.

That’s both the final score and the series tally as play heads back to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., for Game 6 Thursday night.

Howden, Vegas’ fourth-line center, has made for an unlikely savior in the series with a pair of game-winning goals. He’s also tied for the team lead with Tomas Hertl with three postseason goals.

Vegas’ best players have underperformed for much of the series, but took a step in the right direction in Game 5.   

First-line center Jack Eichel looked to be back in the midseason form when he was arguably one of the five best players in the NHL. He set up each of the Golden Knights’ first two goals, the first a shorthanded score.

Eichel intercepted a pass and took off down the ice, attracting the attention of all three Wild players near him. But he managed to rip a pass through them at the last, and perfect, moment that William Karlsson tapped in for a goal.

The only problem was, Minnesota equalized 13 seconds later. It didn’t let the power play go to waste with the visiting star players also showing some life with Kirill Kaprizov punching in his fifth goal of the series.

It was a rare miscue for the Vegas penalty kill, which was otherwise dominant on the night. In addition to Karlsson’s goal, the unit also got out of two other penalties with Minnesota hardly mounting any chances.  

But Kaprizov’s line wasn’t done making plays. Early in the third period, Wild first-line center Joel Eriksson Ek fired a precision pass in the neutral zone to Matt Boldy while pressed up against the boards.

Boldy did the rest, slicing through the Vegas defense for a goal from point-blank range. Like Kaprizov, it was also Boldy’s fifth goal of the series.

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy appeared to have fixed Vegas’ top-line troubles by shaking up the lineups and putting Karlsson with Eichel at the end of Game 4 into Game 5.

But the other forward in the group, Pavel Dorofeyev, didn’t have as much as an impact as his linemates Tuesday and got injured after 17:32 of ice time. Dorofeyev didn’t appear in overtime.

The Golden Knights’ top-line was therefore still at a clear disadvantage to Minnesota’s Kaprizov-Eriksson Ek-Boldy triumvirate.

But it looked like another Wild line initially dashed the Golden Knights’ hopes.

Second-line Wild center Ryan Hartman, whom Cassidy has praised as having strong series, scored in the 18^th minute of the third period on the breakway. Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill immediately protested that Hartman kicked the puck in, but the goal was upheld by replay.

Cassidy then challenged for offsides, and the goal was overturned. T-Mobile Arena erupted louder than it had all night including at the start of the third period when fan favorite Marc-Andre Fleury took to the ice for the Wild.

Wild starter Filip Gustavsson, who had kept his team in it for much of the night, had fallen ill to given the legendary 40-year-old who spent four seasons in Vegas a chance to bank one last memory at T-Mobile Arena.

Despite the tense playoff setting, Golden Knights fans chanted “Fleury” when they realized he had checked in.

But Fleury fell to 1-5 against the Golden Knights for his career. The Wild defended well in front of him and prevented any shots on goal for his first 12 minutes on the ice, but couldn’t hold up forever.

Vegas started finding some attacking success late in the third period and carried it into overtime.

Howden served the final blow.