Turning points and momentum swings add up to 2-1 series deficit for Wild

A disallowed goal in the first period of Game 3.

Vegas tying Game 2 only 18 seconds after the Wild scored.

All 17 shots earlier that night in the first period that stayed out.

The woulda, coulda, shoulda moments keep piling up against the Wild, a stash of tough breaks and near misses that reveal how this best-of-seven series could have veered in a different direction, one in which the Wild is leading.

Instead, the team has dropped two straight and trails the Golden Knights 2-1 in the first round of the playoffs. And if the Wild's skid stretches to three for the first time this season after Game 4 on Saturday at Xcel Energy Center, the team will be on the brink of elimination.

"We've been a resilient group all year, whether we are down a goal or two in the third period or lose a couple of games, we always come back with our best the next game," goaltender Cam Talbot said. "We're one of the few teams who didn't lose three in a row this year, and we need to build on that now."

While the Wild can draw inspiration from the regular season on how adept it became at hitting the reset button, a closer look at the 5-2 meltdown in Game 3 is probably all the team needs to bounce back against Vegas.

Not only was there a blueprint for how to outplay the Golden Knights, but the action was also a tutorial on what not to do, a mashup of the team's best and worst hockey this postseason.

"Moving past it and not learning doesn't necessarily help us," defenseman Ian Cole said. "That said, dwelling on it doesn't help us either. It needs to be a mix of the two. We need to be adjusting. We need to be getting better. We need to be figuring out how to get better."

After the first period, the Wild was ahead 2-0 — a well-deserved lead that made it look like the team had finally solved Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Rookie Kirill Kaprizov's quick, heads-up pass to a net-crashing Ryan Hartman opened the scoring, and then center Joel Eriksson Ek buried a loose puck for the type of gritty goal that's difficult for Fleury or any NHL netminder to stop.

"We played with energy and just going after them, making smart decisions on the lines and getting open, helping each other out," Eriksson Ek said.

But the Wild's aggressiveness didn't return for the second and third periods.

That streakiness showed up earlier in the series; the Wild overcame a slow start in Game 1 to prevail 1-0 in overtime. During Game 2, the team was in complete control in the first despite not capitalizing and then eased up after it finally did score, paving the way for a 3-1 Golden Knights comeback.

This latest sag, however, was the most jarring. The Wild was outshot 36-9 from the second period on, combusting under Vegas' pressure that culminated in a five-goal tear.

"They bent a bit, but they didn't break," coach Dean Evason said. "They obviously stayed the course better than we did."

Evason pinpointed the five penalties the Wild committed in the game as what derailed its rhythm, but Vegas was also likely galvanized by staring at a two-goal deficit instead of three.

Eriksson Ek potted a third goal in the first period from his office in front of the net, but the score was waved off for being offside.

"We had opportunities obviously to go up, to get that third one," Evason said. "The disallowed goal maybe tweaked us a little bit. It didn't feel that way. Maybe not even our mental psyche but maybe theirs was like, 'Geez, maybe we caught a break,' and they were able to go forward from there. I don't know. The game flows like that."

Those momentum swings have happened all series long, but the Wild has rarely been the beneficiary.

In Game 4, the team will rely on a new lineup to try to seize the reins.

Winger Marcus Johansson is out because of a broken left arm after crashing into the post during the first period Thursday. The injury required surgery on Friday.

Zach Parise has been the Wild's odd forward out, sitting as a healthy scratch so far this series, but Evason didn't guarantee Parise's return and said the team was going to discuss its options.

Regardless of how the Wild adjusts, the reality facing the team is the same.

"Everyone is aware of the situation that we're in and how crucial Game 4 is in a series," Cole said. "There's no secret recipe. It's just a matter of will. We just need to get the job done."