Jack Eichel netted a hat trick to help lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Brett Howden and Tanner Pearson scored one goal apiece for Vegas (43-20-8, 94 points), which won its fourth game in a row. The Golden Knights won their first game since losing top goal scorer Tomas Hertl to an upper-body injury.
Marcus Johansson scored the lone goal for Minnesota (40-27-5, 85 points), which lost its second game in as many nights.
Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill turned aside 23 of 24 shots to earn the victory.
Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 37 shots.
Vegas opened the scoring 6:23 into the first period. Fleury denied an initial shot from the point by Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, but the puck kicked out to Eichel in the left circle.
Eichel quickly capitalized by firing a wrist shot into the net before Fleury could recover. The play increased Eichel’s goal-scoring streak to three games in a row.
Nearly midway through the second period, the Golden Knights went ahead 2-0 when Noah Hanifin fired a high shot that Fleury deflected over the net and Howden punched the puck into the net on the rebound as Fleury struggled to locate it near his skates. Teammates celebrated with Howden, a seven-year veteran who reached the 20-goal milestone for the first time in his career.
The Wild pulled within 2-1 with 18:18 remaining in the third period. Mats Zuccarello slipped a pass to Johansson, who scored on a one-timer from the slot.
Eichel made it 3-1 on the power play with 5:03 remaining. Golden Knights forward Mark Stone set a screen in front of the net before Eichel fired his shot.
Exactly two minutes later, Pearson made it 4-1 when he scored an empty-net goal.
Fleury returned to the net but Eichel and the Golden Knights kept rolling. Eichel notched his hat trick when he carried the puck into the offensive zone on a two-on-one rush and scored from the right circle.
