Wild fall to Golden Knights 5-1 as playoff cushion thins

The more of a handful the Golden Knights became for the Wild, the less certain it was that they would be the Wild’s first-round playoff matchup.

But that isn’t a positive development for the Wild.

They’re in jeopardy of falling from the first wild-card seed to the second and taking on the other Western Conference division leader in the Jets, who have already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

“We gotta worry about getting there first of all,” Mats Zuccarello said.

Fair enough.

A 5-1 loss to Vegas on Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center coupled with St. Louis’ seventh consecutive win cut the Wild’s lead over the Blues to a mere two points with 10 games left — this after the Wild had a thick seven-point cushion just two weeks earlier; they were still third in the Central Division three weeks ago.

“We know what we’re up against,” Zuccarello said. “We gotta raise to that level.”

Over their past six periods, the Wild have just one goal after getting shut out 3-0 by the Stars Monday night in Dallas while the Golden Knights rested.

Adin Hill made 23 saves, while Jack Eichel scored a hat trick in Vegas’ fourth straight victory that swept the season series (3-0) vs. the Wild.

“We plain and simple lose to a better team,” Zuccarello said. “The way they make plays, always four, five guys in the rush. Seems like they always have time. They’re playing, I would say, a supportive way where they always have the guy open. They always have guys coming with speed.”

Eichel’s first came 6 minutes, 23 seconds into the first period when Mark Stone backhanded him a rebound for the put-back into an open side.

Then 8:22 into the second, Brett Howden stuffed in a carom off the end boards.

The Wild, meanwhile, tested Hill infrequently and were at one point in the period getting outshot 21-9.

“We gotta make plays,” Zuccarello said. “We gotta support each other. We gotta have guys come with speed. I don’t know. It’s hard. Today, you can mix and match, back-to-back, but we play against a team that it’s really hard to play against when they play like that, and we don’t play like us.”

BOXSCORE: Vegas 5, Wild 1

NHL standings

Only 1:42 into the third period, Zuccarello set up Marcus Johansson for a one-timer between the faceoff circles to wreck Hill’s shutout bid. The assist was Zuccarello’s 225th with the Wild, which is the fifth-most in franchise history.

Marco Rossi then tipped a second puck by Hill, but the goal was immediately waved off because Rossi’s deflection was with a high stick.

Still, the Wild kept challenging the Golden Knights, hemming Vegas in its own end for stints, and not until the Wild committed their first penalty of the night (a high stick by Ryan Hartman) did the Golden Knights alleviate the pressure on Eichel’s second goal; he wired a puck by Marc-Andre Fleury at 14:57 on the power play; the Wild went 0-for-1.

Tanner Pearson capitalized into an empty net 2 minutes later before Eichel completed the hat trick with 2:32 to go against Fleury, who finished with 33 stops during his first start in eight games.

“Gave up four and I’m probably still looking for it,” Fleury said of his timing after such a long layoff. “It’s not ideal, but it is what it is.”

If these two teams were to meet in the playoffs, the Wild could have a different lineup by then.

They did get Jonas Brodin back on Tuesday after he sat out Monday, with the team monitoring his return from a lengthy injury absence. Declan Chisholm didn’t play after suffering a lower-body injury on a shot block in Dallas.

Marcus Foligno missed a fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.

As for Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek, coach John Hynes said he anticipates both will start skating soon.

In the meantime, the Wild’s grueling week continues Thursday when they’ll host the No. 1 Capitals and Alex Ovechkin as he gets closer to passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s goals record.

The Wild are in their own race, the buffer they once had almost down to nothing.

And after the Blues are the Flames, Canucks and Utah Hockey Club vying to catch up.

“Everyone’s competing,” Hynes said. “Everyone’s jockeying. This is the best time of the year, and that’s why you want to be in this position.

“You want to be in a position where there’s meaningful games down the stretch.”