Coghlan gets hat trick, Golden Knights still lose to Wild

Vegas Golden Knights rookie defenseman Dylan Coghlan scored the first three goals of his NHL career, but it wasn’t enough offense as the Minnesota Wild took a 4-3 win and both halves of the two-game series.

Minnesota dominated most of the game, establishing a 4-1 lead halfway through the third period. At that point, Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer elected to remove Marc-Andre Fleury and insert Logan Thompson for his first NHL action.

After the goalie switch, Vegas finally woke up offensively. Coghlan scored his second and third goals of the game in the final six minutes of the game but even with the extra attacker late Vegas couldn’t find the equalizer.

For the most part it was that kind of night for Vegas. Jonathan Marchessault had a golden opportunity off to the left of goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen in the third period but shot the puck back into the goaltender. Likewise Alex Tuch had an open net late in the game but couldn’t find the handle in front of the Wild net and his effort missed the cage.

Vegas will now head to St. Louis for a pair against the Blues to round out the current six-game road swing.

Tom’s Takeaways:

• The game wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Minnesota was by far the better team for most of the contest and deserved the win. Once again, Vegas played maybe 15 or 20 minutes of hockey but this time they couldn’t quite complete the comeback. The Golden Knights are talented enough to get away with it once in a while, but this team really needs to start putting forth consistent, 60-minute efforts.
• That said, take nothing away from the Wild. They forechecked and forced turnovers offensively while defending well and thwarting any Vegas attempt to establish zone time and possession. The Wild are going to continue to be a tough out in the Honda West Division, mark my words.
• Marc-Andre Fleury takes the loss, but it’s hard to pin this one on him. Once again he played well, but Vegas gave up several high caliber scoring chances and four of them found the back of the net.
• Logan Thompson’s NHL debut went about as well as he could hope. In 6:15 of game time, Thompson stopped both shots he faced.
• Dylan Coghlan scored the first three goals of his NHL career in the loss, which now ties him with Shea Theodore for the most goals by a defenseman on the team this season.