Wild overtime: Key takeaways from Tuesday’s game in Vegas

With his team aiming to even its Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Wild coach John Hynes used the same players in Game 2 on Tuesday night as he did in Sunday’s series-opening loss, but he made a notable tweak.

Hynes altered his third and fourth lines, moving Ryan Hartman to third-line center between Marcus Foligno and Gustav Nyquist, and dropping Marco Rossi to fourth-line center between Yakov Trenin and Justin Brazeau.

In doing so, Hynes was playing the hot hand. Hartman had an assist, took three shots on goal and was plus-2 in Game 1 on Sunday, while Rossi was pointless with only one shot on goal in his playoff debut. In addition, Rossi finished the regular season with a three-game pointless stretch with only two shots on goal in that span.

The move worked out well.

Hartman’s line set the tone in the first period as the Wild raced to a three-goal first-period lead and went on to even the series at one game apiece with a 5-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena. Hartman assisted on Foligno’s first-period goal, and Foligno added to the physical tone with a team playoff-record 12 hits.

“That line looked good, and one of the reasons we made the change is we felt Hartsy played really well,” Hynes told reporters in Las Vegas. “He’s got some good chemistry with Foligno. … Sometimes, you just make a move or two and just feel there might something where that line has a stronger identity. Nyquist was good on the line, as well.“

Foligno felt the Wild took a while to find their stride.

Hartman had a strong drive to the net in the game’s first five minutes, forcing Vegas goalie Adin Hill to make a big save. Shortly afterward, Trenin threw a behind-the-back pass to set up Joel Eriksson Ek, but Hill made a spectacular pad save.

Hartman’s line boosted the Wild’s lead to 2-0 in the first period when the veteran center, operating behind the net, found Foligno in the crease. Foligno hammered the puck home at 11:35.

The Wild had 54 hits to the Golden Knights’ 29 in Sunday’s opener, and Minnesota continued to throw its weight around in Game 2, especially Foligno.

After delivering 11 hits Sunday, the man nicknamed “Moose” opened with six of the Wild’s 18 hits in the first period and finished with 12 of the team’s 36 hits. Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud was a frequent target of Foligno’s physical play.

“It’s going to be big throughout this series,” Foligno said. “They’ve got guys like Mark Stone, Jack Eichel. They’re very lethal players, and you frustrate guys like that when they don’t get those touches.”

“We’re trying to get a lick every time we can,” Wild defenseman Jake Middleton said. “… You’re just trying to put as much wear and tear on them as you possibly can.“

In his NHL debut Sunday, Wild defenseman Zeev Buium had his ups and downs. He logged 13:27 in 19 shifts, took one shot and delivered two hits. He also was hesitant at times, getting stripped of the puck while deciding to pass or shoot. On the Wild’s six-on-five situation late in the third period, Buium had a pass intercepted, forcing Matt Boldy to take a tripping penalty to prevent an empty-net goal.

In Game 2 on Tuesday, Buium played 12:45 over 15 shifts. He had two giveaways and finished with a minus-2 rating.

Buium was on the ice for Noah Hanfin’s second-period goal, making a solid poke-check to deny Nicolas Hague a scoring chance. But the puck caromed to an uncovered Hanifin, who beat goalie Filip Gustavsson to make it 4-1. In the third period, Buium was on the ice for Tomas Hertl’s goal that cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-2.

Part of the Golden Knights’ success in Game 1 came from their ability to keep pucks away from goalie Adin Hill. Vegas blocked 25 shots Sunday, led by six from Brayden McNabb and four by fellow defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

“We had some key blocked shots,” Hynes said. “We had guys who were really committed to getting blocked shots.”

With their loss Sunday, the Wild fell to 5-13 all-time in playoff series openers. They have lost 10 of 12 playoff series when dropping the first game, the exceptions being the 2003 Western Conference semifinals against Vancouver and the 2014 conference quarterfinals against Colorado.

Tuesday marked the fifth consecutive series in which the Wild has split the first two games. They are 4-5 all-time in that scenario but have lost their past four series after a split.

Had the Wild lost on Tuesday, they would have faced longer odds to advance. When losing the first two games of a series, they are 1-8 all-time, beating only Colorado in seven games in 2014.