Vegas moves on with 3-2 win in series clincher, as Wild go 1-and-done yet again

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give the Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights onto the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of Edmonton-Los Angeles series. The Oilers took a 3-2 lead on the Kings into Game 6 on their home ice later on Thursday.

Minnesota has lost nine consecutive series in the NHL playoffs and last made it out of the first round 10 years ago.

Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.

Stone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway, had four points in the last three games. Neither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games.

Minnesota Wild right wing Ryan Hartman, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring during the first period of Game 6 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)

Hartman tied the game for the Wild with 4 seconds left in the first period, a goal safe from replay review unlike his go-ahead score in Game 5 with 1:15 remaining in regulation that was revoked for an offside call after Vegas challenged.

The Wild were unshaken by the consecutive overtime losses that erased their 2-1 lead, confident they measured up to the deeper Golden Knights and could still take the series.

They were quickly playing from behind, though, after Marco Rossi got the dreaded double minor penalty for high-sticking Brayden McNabb with just 2:27 elapsed in the game.

Theodore wristed in a shot from the high slot with Stone and Tomas Hertl screening Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, immediately quieting the crowd near the end of the first power play. Gustavsson, who was forced out of Game 5 after two periods due to an illness, had 20 saves.