Wild shut out Golden Knights, win Game 1 in OT

LAS VEGAS --Joel Eriksson Ek scored at 3:20 of overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 1-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

After a face-off in the Vegas zone, Marcus Foligno forced a turnover for Minnesota, and Jordan Greenway's centering pass deflected off Foligno's stick. Eriksson Ek's shot went off the skate of Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez and through the five-hole.
"It all started on that draw," Eriksson Ek said. "'Greener' and [Foligno] did a great job getting back there. You have a sense where the puck's going to go."
Cam Talbot made 42 saves for the Wild, including 19 in the first period, for his fifth Stanley Cup Playoff shutout. Minnesota is the No. 3 seed in the Honda West Division.
"The longer it stays scoreless, it favors us," Talbot said. "We bent in the first period, but we knew they were going to have a push and come out hard. Fleury was unbelievable there in the second (13 saves). Great game by both teams, happy to come out on top."

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, the No. 2 seed.
"Yeah, it's tough," Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. "I thought we played a pretty good game to start, played the first 25, 30 minutes really well, and they had a little bit of a push. [Fleury] made some big saves. But it's a 1-0 game in overtime. We've got to find ways to score goals."
Forward Max Pacioretty (undisclosed), who led the Golden Knights with 24 goals in 48 games this season, did not play.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be played here Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN360, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, BSN, BSWI+).
Fleury ended the regular season on a personal nine-game winning streak. He and Robin Lehner alternated starts for the final 29 games.
"He was great," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said of Fleury. "I think it was an easy decision. When you look at our season, I thought both goaltenders were excellent, but [Fleury] really carried us during some of the tougher periods and really was consistent all season and was great down the stretch too. Fairly easy decision and nice luxury to have two guys like we have."

Fleury kept the game tied as Minnesota began its push in the second period. He made a glove save on a one-timer by Ryan Hartman just outside the crease at 3:58 of the second period. At 5:23, he made another glove save on a shot by Nick Bjugstad on a 3-on-2.
At 4:41 of the third, Fleury went from left to right and extended his glove behind his back to the right, stopping Kirill Kaprizov's backhand-to-forehand attempt.
"The puck hit something," Fleury said. "I was going to my left, and then he brought it back on my blocker side. I just tried to push as quick as I could, and I just got a piece on the finger. It was close, but it was a nice feeling to get that one."
Teams that win Game 1 are 490-222 (68.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 7-1 in the first round last season.
"This is just the start for us in this series," Greenway said. "We feel there's definitely more we can do. It's a good team we played against; hard game, but yeah, we're going to build off that. We have more we can bring."
NOTES: Talbot has a playoff shutout with three teams (Minnesota, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers), the second-most in NHL history. Curtis Joseph did it with four teams (St. Louis Blues, Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings). … Talbot made the third-most saves by a Wild goalie in a playoff game (Niklas Backstrom, 44 in 2008; Josh Harding, 43 in 2013; Manny Fernandez, 43 in 2003). … Wild forward Zach Parise was a healthy scratch. He is Minnesota's leading playoff scorer with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games and has scored 77 points (35 goals, 42 assists) in 101 playoff games with the Wild and New Jersey Devils. He scored 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 45 games this season and was a healthy scratch in four of the last five games of the regular season. … Tomas Nosek replaced Pacioretty at first-line left wing in his first game since April 24 and had one shot in 14:40 of ice time. … Martinez (undisclosed) returned after missing the final two games of the regular season. He blocked two shots in 22:13. … Vegas forward Ryan Reaves (undisclosed) had 10 hits and played 11:12 in his first game since April 11.