Wild's top line more than Knights can handle through 2 games

LAS VEGAS (AP) — If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota's top line likely will be the reason.

They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of this series, which is 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 on Thursday night. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday night.

Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games and Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet.

“I think the biggest thing with our line is just getting pucks back, forechecking hard, hanging on to pucks,” Boldy said. “When you can do that and you can stay in the zone and get second, third chances ... it's hard. As a defender, when you're out there with guys like that, you end up being in the zone for a while.”

It's a line that was put together the second-to-last game of the regular season, largely because of injuries. Kaprizov missed 41 games this season and Eriksson Ek was out for 36.

“I think Ecky, Bowls and Kirill, they play a playoff-style type of hockey,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “They play north. They play direct. They can use their competitive level in combination with skill. It gives them a chance to be a line that's hard to play.”

Hynes leaned heavily on that line in Game 1, a 4-2 loss, and it was the only one that produced positive results in the opener. They played 17:22 at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, and none of the other lines were on the ice for more than nine minutes.

That changed just two nights later. Three lines saw double-digit minutes of action at 5-on-5 and each scored at least one goal.

Receiving that more varied production could bode well facing a Golden Knights team that prides itself on using all four lines.

Now the series heads back to Minnesota and the Wild will try to build on this performance.

Their top line was nearly unstoppable the first two games. Vegas has to show it can at least slow down that trio.

Otherwise, the Wild's long playoff series drought might finally end.

“They're just unpredictable,” Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “They're real creative. They're high-skill players. We've got to be better on them and harder on them because they drive all the offense.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl