A moral victory in Minnesota sounds pretty boring, but that's what the Golden Knights were getting at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday night.
With 1:31 to go, the Golden Knights held a decisive 27-13 5v5 Scoring Chances and 10-6 High-danger Corsi For edge, according to Natural Stat Trick. Only Devan Dubnyk kept the Wild afloat 1-0.
But then, Max Pacioretty and Wild castoff Erik Haula co-authored a surprise ending, giving the Knights their first victory of the new season:
Winning Play
With Marc-Andre Fleury pulled, Jonathan Marchessault (81) does a masterful job of clearing a passing lane to Pacioretty (67) in the high slot.
This is a bad time for Marchessault to feed Pacioretty. Spurgeon is looking at Pacioretty with a stick in that passing lane. Jason Zucker (16) is also right on top of Pacioretty.
Marchessault looks off Pacioretty, pretending to focus on Reilly Smith (19) and/or Dubnyk. Spurgeon's stick is now in the lane between Marchessault and Smith, and away from the lane between Marchessault and Pacioretty. Zucker has taken Spurgeon's cue and heads toward the net. They appear to be anticipating something like a Marchessault shot-pass to Smith.
By the time Minnesota figures out Marchessault's true intent, it's too late. Spurgeon can't transfer his stick over quickly enough to block the passing lane to Pacioretty, while Zucker is a half-step behind.
Same clip, but this time, notice how little Pacioretty moves. This goal isn't so much Pacioretty finding a soft spot as it's Marchessault manipulating the space around the sniper. Marchessault essentially creates Pacioretty's soft spot.
That's taking nothing away from Pacioretty, whose release is second-to-none. But it's Marchessault who's the artist here.
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"Carpenter" and "brilliant" aren't words often used together.
But Ryan Carpenter's (40) work on Mikael Granlund (64) here is nothing short of that.
The edgework! Granlund is a wonderful skater, but Carpenter shows that he doesn't have ham hocks for feet himself.
Also, right before Carpenter takes the puck from Granlund, he slows down, matching speeds with his prey, then anticipates Granlund's last burst, cutting the Finn off.
Remember too that Minnesota is holding a 1-0 lead late in the final frame here. This defensive display by Carpenter certainly helped set up Pacioretty and Haula's late heroics.
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