Wild's loss to Vegas in Game 5 comes down to Gustav Nyquist's carelessness
If the winger had stayed onside late in the third period Tuesday, the Wild would be returning home with a chance to close out their first-round series on Thursday night.
Mistakes are inevitable in sports and, unfortunately, many occur at the worst possible moment. But there’s a big difference between a mistake and carelessness and the two should not be confused.
What Wild winger Gustav Nyquist did Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series was an inexcusable case of the latter. It cost the Wild the game and could end up costing them the series.
This might seem harsh. It’s not. How can you not pin much of the blame on Nyquist for what happened late in the third period of a 2-2 game in a series that was tied at two?
The Wild could have returned for Game 6 on Thursday night in St. Paul with a chance to advance to the second round for the first time in 10 years. Instead, the Wild will have to win on Thursday again in Game 7 in Vegas.
Nyquist’s negligence occurred with 75 seconds remaining in the third period when Ryan Hartman brought the puck into the Golden Knights zone and drove to the net. Goalie Adin Hill poked the puck off of Hartman’s stick but it bounced off his leg and into the net. Hartman and his teammates celebrated as the decision was made to review whether the puck had been kicked into the net.
Replays showed Hartman had made no kicking motion and that the puck had gone off his leg. But as the announcement was made that the goal would count, the Golden Knights challenged that Nyquist entered the zone ahead of the puck.
It didn’t take much time to see that was the case and the goal was erased.
Staying onside is something that is taught at the youth hockey level. Nyquist had to be aware of where the puck was on Hartman’s stick and act accordingly. Jumping into the zone first was unnecessary. If he had wanted to follow Hartman and hope for a rebound, that would have been fine. But this was Hartman’s show and it was up to Nyquist to make sure he didn’t screw it up.
A defensive zone breakdown by the Wild’s fourth line and third defensive pairing only 4 minutes, 5 seconds into overtime enabled Brett Howden to score the winner on Marc-Andre Fleury after the veteran goalie had come off the bench to replace starter Filip Gustavsson in the third period. Gustavsson left the game because he was sick.
There undoubtedly will be some who complain about the fact that review for offsides exists and there will be others who point to mistakes made by various members of the Wild or coach John Hynes that also could have prevented the Game 5 loss.
Just stop.
The offside reviews can be maddening at times, but in this case it did its job. Imagine if the Golden Knights had scored that goal to take the lead. Would you have wanted it to stand because review wasn’t an option?
There were mistakes made Tuesday on both sides — and few head-scratching moves by Hynes — but, again, there’s a difference between making a mistake and being careless to the point where you don’t think to make sure you remain onside in one of the most crucial situations of the season.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin acquired Nyquist from Nashville on March 1 for a 2026 second-round pick. Guerin had done the same two years earlier, getting a then-injured Nyquist from Columbus for a 2023 fifth-round selection in late February. Nyquist had a goal and four assists playing in the final three games of the regular season and then contributed five assists in six playoff games in the Wild’s first-round loss to Dallas.
Guerin clearly thought the 35-year-old Nyquist could provide a spark to this team’s offense, but he had only two goals and seven points in 22 games after being acquired. He also had nine goals and 21 points and was a minus-20 in 57 games with a bad Nashville team.