By Thomas Williams -
That's it. The Minnesota Wild had their season ending by the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights and all it took was a 3-2 in Game 6 Thursday night.
While the Wild were able to come alive for the majority of this series and surprised most by how competitive they were going to be for a Wild Card team that almost had their playoff spot slip away from them in the late regular season, it still leaves a sour taste. A lingering feeling that might not go away until the next time the Wild make the playoffs, and we can be filled with some more hope and praying that they would show something more.
But on an individual game basis? What can we truly take away from 60 minutes we wish to forget almost immediately? Do we dare think of their performance that led us to think about what might happen at the 2025 NHL Draft or some offseason moves, already?
Wild finally had underlying upper hand -- didn't matter
As this series carried on, a whole lot of digital ink was spilled over which team was truly controlling the play. Sure, Minnesota got to the 2-1 series lead earlier, and Vegas came storming back in the next three games, but underneath the hood of each game was where some indicators truly lay.
For the first five games, the Wild let the Golden Knights have the advantage in shot attempts and shots on goal at 5-on-5. The typical indicators of success generally tilted towards Vegas, but the Wild were more than comfortable taking their opportunities when they get them.
On Thursday night, in the loss that sent Minnesota home very early, the Wild actually had the advantage when it came to underlying offensive statistics. A sizeable 55-34 advantage in shot attempts at 5-on-5, and won the shot battle at that game state 24-15 as well. You can continue just scrolling down through the single-game sample size of how the Wild were able to have plenty of control during Game 6, but it would become the same old story.
The Wild played well but still ended up as the team that got knocked out. It was the first time where they walked away from the game this series with more scoring chances than their opponent, but sometimes it doesn't even matter. It could come down to some single-player performances.
Came down to the big plays from big players
When the Wild had the advantage in this series, both Mark Stone and Jack Eichel had not scored yet, and Minnesota was taking advantage of a quiet start. Both of those star players for the Golden Knights ended up putting pucks in the back of the net during Game 6.
Sometimes it's not control or possession or any underlying metric you can think of. It's players that have been there before and know exactly what they need to do to get that greasy and nasty goal in the playoffs. Whether it was Stone batting a puck out of mid-air to just push through the Wild, or Stone connecting with Eichel to shoot him off for an odd-man rush and to score a series-killing goal; it proved to be the difference.
Maybe the Wild were just lulled into some sense of safety as those two were held without a goal to start. And then they just pounce on the team that thinks they have this all figured out.
The Golden Knights' stars came to play and showed up when it mattered the most. Maybe they were just the sleeping giant -- the series did end as most expected.
Fleury send-off
Thursday night's Game 6 loss meant no more games for the Wild, and that means no more games for Marc-Andre Fleury. The legendary netminder has now played in his final NHL game. It will be the last time he was able to sit on a bench wearing a team's colors over some equipment.
Naturally, he got a heck of a send-off after the final whistle, and as the handshake line began.
It is a terrible way for his career to end, before it eventually gets enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Standing on the loser's side of a first-round exit after experiencing the highs of this league for several years. But, at least the farewell was done right and the Wild got the rare chance to be the footnote on the career of one of the best to do it at their position.
Now, where do the Wild go from here? Can they recover from yet another time they weren't able to move on in the playoffs? Will there be major changes to this roster? Will they keep the same players and just hope for a different result, and blame their underperformance on injuries? This summer, anything feels possible for this team that feels desperate to show that they can be something more.
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