Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild defense was perfect until the Vegas Golden Knights scored the game-tying goal with 1:31 left in the third period.
Minnesota, leading 1-0 on a first period goal by Matt Dumba, was holding strong until Max Pacioretty banged home a rebound for the tying goal, the first of 38 shots to get by Dubnyk on a night when he was simply brilliant between the pipes.
A Vegas penalty with under 30 seconds left in regulation gave the Wild a power play to start overtime, and they nearly made the defending Western Conference champions pay when Mikko Koivu took a feed from Zach Parise and sent a one-timer off the pipe in the waning seconds of the power play.
Instead, the game remained 1-1 after overtime and the Golden Knights won in a shootout.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped Parise, Jason Zucker and Koivu and Dubnyk saved two penalty shots before former Golden Gopher and Wild speedster Erik Haula won it in the third round.
Erik Haula, whom you may have heard of, tallies the shootout winning goal for the Golden Knights. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/cx54oFFWs4
— Giles Ferrell (@gilesferrell) October 7, 2018
Dumba provided Minnesota’s two biggest highlights, with a goal and an open-ice hit. Check out the videos of both below.
🚨 PING! 🚨
Dumba rings one off the iron and in to put the @mnwild up 1-0!!! Stream the home opener on the FOX Sports app: https://t.co/dG1QFN1HI0 pic.twitter.com/fl76k2IgXP
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) October 7, 2018
Matt Dumba drops the hammer on Tomas Nosek. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/XHpcHRyBEi
— Giles Ferrell (@gilesferrell) October 7, 2018
Dubnyk finished the game with 41 saves.
