Ivan Barbashev netted the winning goal in overtime, leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 4. This crucial win levels the series score at 2-2.
With the series now effectively a best-of-three contest, the adjustments made to the lineup by head coach Bruce Cassidy on Saturday indicate that a potentially different Vegas team might take the ice in upcoming games.
After a challenging season that demanded numerous line combinations due to various injuries across the roster, Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy initially employed a cautious strategy in the Golden Knights’ first-round series against the Wild.
In the initial three games of the series, his top forward line, featuring Barbashev, Jack Eichel, and Mark Stone, had been notably quiet, failing to contribute a single point.
Facing a 2-1 series deficit entering Saturday`s Game 4, Cassidy began the game in Minnesota with the same primary trio intact. While Barbashev and Eichel finally registered points by assisting on Shea Theodore’s power-play goal that opened the scoring in the first period, it became evident after Minnesota took the lead in the second period — having clearly outworked Vegas up to that point by effectively disrupting play in the neutral zone and maintaining constant, stifling pressure — that a strategic change was urgently required.
