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Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights dropped the Minnesota Wild 4-0 to take a 3-1 series lead heading back to Las Vegas for game five.
The shutout was the 16th of Fleury’s illustrious postseason career, good for a tie on the all-time postseason shutout list.
“To come in here and sweep was a real testament to our group,” Vegas coach Pete DeBoer told ESPN.
The series returns to The Fortress for a potential elimination game on Monday, May 24. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.
Since going up 2-0 in game three, the Wild have allowed nine straight unanswered goals to the Knights.
Center Nicolas Roy and forward Keegan Kolesar showcased a beautiful two-man play for the first score of the game.
After a saved shot from Fleury, Roy cleared the puck up to neutral ice where Kolesar was holding off a Wild defender.
Roy was given a free path up the ice, and Kolesar, from the side of his eye, saw the slashing Roy and softly laid a pass to Roy, who finished the play with a strike past Minnesota’s Cam Talbot.
The Knights would continue to light up the Wild in transition routinely beating the Wild up the ice.
Next came the speedy Alex Tuch, who was fed a touch pass from defensemen Zach Whitecloud before Tuch split two Wild skaters and faked Talbot out to put Vegas up 2-0.
Captain Mark Stone scored shortly after on a similar play in transition which saw he and Talbot alone.
Stone nearly spun Talbot around before laying the puck around him for the flashy goal.
Stone and Tuch both have three goals in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The third period brought more of the same for the Knights – dominating play from Fleury leaving the Wild distraught.
Roy would score his second goal of the game on another Kolesar assist and the Knights would ride the 4-0 score to victory.
According to ESPN’s stats and information, out of the 21 Knights to touch the ice this series, 16 of them have recorded a point.
The Knights in the last five periods have been all gas, no breaks.
“When you get those leads, sometimes you sit back. I think we did a good job of just pushing forward,” Stone told ESPN.