Knights-Wild Series Preview.

 1P Vegas vs Minnesota 1WC

We are back with another Playoff preview here on the ETEH Blog, so today we are looking at the 3rd Series that was locked in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at The Pacific winners and one of the Wildcard teams in the West as Vegas who won yet another Pacific title this year and looked really good edging out both LA and Edmonton for top in the divison takes on the Minnesota Wild who had a great start to the season but limped into the playoffs and barely finished ahead of St.Louis and Calgary for the first wildcard spot.

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

Now if you look at the history of these two teams playing, just like the Jets and Blues, these two teams have only ever had one previous playoff meeting and that was back in 2021 with the realigned divisons and the shortened season, as Vegas who just missed out on winning the West took on Minnesota who finished 3rd in that divishon and that was actually one of the few series and Vegas has played in that went to 7 games as Vegas had a 3-1 series lead, Minnesota stormed back to push 7 but Vegas did wind up taking that one in 7 games, so all in all Vegas will be looking to beat Minnesota for a 2nd straight time in the playoffs while Minnesota is looking for their first postseason series victory against Vegas.

Season Series Record: 

Vegas 3-0-0 12-4+8

Minnesota 0-3-0 4-12-8

Amy Irvin Hockey Writers

Each teams X-Factors: Kaprizov vs Dorofeyev

Next we go over to the two teams X-Factors in my opinion for this series and the two X-Factors in my eyes are Wild superstar and talented forward Kirill Kaprizov and Knights breakout player Pavel Dorofeyev. Now for the Wild they had to spend a majority of the past three months without their best player and that explains why they did so poorly down the stretch as Kaprizov started the season shot out of a cannon and was in the Hart conversation but due to that injury he didn't finish the season like he would've liked, so I feel Kaprizov is the Wild's X-Factor as if he plays like he did before the injury and makes the Wild's forward group lethal, then the Wild have a shot but if Kaprizov is rusty it may be a different story, when it comes to Dorofeyev, I don't think anyone saw the coming as after Marchessault left in free agency Dorofeyev stepped into a top six role and ran with it becoming one of the select few Knights players to hit the 30 goal plateau, so his offensive outburst has been a big plus for the Knights and if he continues this in the postseason then I feel Vegas will have a good chance to win this series, so we will have to wait and see but I can't wait to see who does better.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: now when it comes to which of these two teams has the better offense, they both have pretty solid forward groups but I think the team who can roll 4 lines better and has better depth is Vegas and that is why I am giving them they offensive edge, I do believe that the Wild probably have the best forward in Kaprizov, but I think top to bottom Vegas is better and I would give them the Advantage.

Defence: on the defensive side of the puck I feel there isn't even any debate on who has the better defence as Vegas far and away has the better blueline, now don't get me wrong the Wild have a pretty good bluline as well, but when guys like Hague, McNabb or Whitecloud are on pair 3 instead of two, you know you have a solid blueline so I believe Vegas has the defensive edge.

Matt Krohn Imagn Images

Goaltending: while in net I feel both teams have rather solid starters and while I wouldn't call either elite, I do feel that Hill and Gustavsson are both good goalies, but when it comes to which team has the advantage in net, I am going to give the slight edge to the Knights as Hill is just a tad bit better and knows what it takes to win in the postseason so I will give Vegas the advantage here too.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Knights PP vs Wild PK

So when it comes to the biggest matchup in my eyes in this series for the Knights and Wild, I would have to go over to the special teams and say the biggest matchup is the Wild's PK vs Vegas PP, now Vegas who hasn't been known in the past for great power play numbers was top 2 in the power play this year and really looked lethal on the power play which just adds another element to their forward group this year, while on the PK the Wild were trash as they had the 30th ranked PK in the NHL and really couldn't stop opposing teams power plays, so I feel whoever wins this matchup has a solid chance of winning the series as if Vegas power play runs all over Minnesota then this series will be short, but if Minnesota can somewhat contain the Vegas PP then they may have a shot.

Predictions:

Now when it comes to my predictions for this series, I feel this may be one of the easier series to try and pick as I don't feel it's as close as series like Leafs-Sen's or Av's-Stars, now both teams had really good starts to the season but Minnesota trailed off while Vegas pushed and won the Pacific, so with the healthier forward group, a top 3 defence in the NHL and a Power Play unit that should scare most teams, I am going with Knights in 5 games, I just feel with Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek most likely being rusty after long absence due to injuries and the lack of depth up front, I don't feel the Wild are built to compete with a team like Vegas and they will in my opinion bow out in RD 1 yet again.