Wild keeps playoff hopes alive with 3-2 victory in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – The Wild showed up on the Vegas Strip like most visitors do, with more to lose than it could realistically gain.

A loss would have undoubtedly done irreparable damage to its bid at a playoff berth, while a victory — although helpful — didn't guarantee it would close the gap.

But that scenario at least remains a possibility after the Wild kept its flickering playoff hopes alive by outdueling the Golden Knights 3-2 Friday in front of a visitor-friendly crowd of 18,492 at T-Mobile Arena.

Minnesota sits four points shy of the Avalanche for the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with four games to go.

"They want to win," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They're not throwing in the towel."

Colorado upended Arizona 3-2 in a shootout earlier in the evening, a worst-case scenario for the Wild because both teams above them earned points. The Avalanche now has 85, while the Coyotes have 82 — one more than the Wild's 81.

All the Wild could control, though, was its performance against Vegas, and that was solid.

"We're against a wall, obviously, and we still need help," winger Jason Zucker said. "But that's what we needed to do. We needed to come in and get that win."

Only 2 minutes, 12 seconds into the first period, the Wild capitalized on a goal-line shot from Pateryn that banked off Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban's pad and into the net. It was an opportune time for the third-pairing defenseman to record his first goal of the season, because the Wild hadn't scored in its past four periods.

The team doubled its lead on a power play with 22 seconds left in the first when Staal deflected in a blistering shot from Zucker. Those two combined again on the power play in the second, setting up Fiala for a shot he lifted over Subban amid a scramble in front at 11:22. The goal was Fiala's third with the Wild, stopping a 10-game drought.

This was also the sixth time in the past eight games the Wild converted at least once on the power play. The team went 2-for-4, while Vegas was 0-for-2. Subban racked up 29 stops.

Before Fiala's goal, Dubnyk made easily one of his best saves of the season — stretching out to get his glove on a wraparound attempt by winger Mark Stone.

Not until two minutes were left in the second did the Golden Knights finally get a puck behind Dubnyk, a put-back by center Paul Stastny off a rebound.

Another goal by Stastny at 8:52 of the third set up a tense finish, but the Wild held on — an outcome that could end up being irrelevant or help the team defy the odds.

For now, it heightens the importance of its next game Sunday when the Wild goes head-to-head with the Coyotes.