Kevin Fiala finally gets on scoresheet to spark Wild's Game 6 victory

While Kevin Fiala was still seeking his first point of the playoffs, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin had the coaching staff pass along a message to the skilled winger.

"Tell him that we'll need him at some point," Guerin relayed. "It doesn't have to be every game."

That opportunity to lead the team came Wednesday during Game 6, and Fiala seized it, setting up the decisive goal and scoring his first of the series to headline the Wild's 3-0 win over the Golden Knights that extended the best-of-seven to a Game 7 on Friday at Vegas.

"You just have to stay the course and play right," coach Dean Evason said. "Maybe you'll have the chance to make a difference, and he did."

The performance was vintage Fiala.

He popped the defensive bubble around the Golden Knights' net, spearheading a 2-on-1 rush in which he fed center Ryan Hartman for a goal that broke a scoreless tie in the third period.

Then, Fiala doubled the Wild's lead when he ignited the power play from a 0-for-8 slumber for his first goal to cap off his best game of the first round.

And the timing was clutch, a lift the Wild thrived on just as Guerin predicted.

"He's very accountable to himself," Evason said of Fiala, who racked up 20 goals in the regular season. "He's very accountable to his teammates, and that allows you I believe to have success. You can recognize that. You don't get down on yourself. I think just that little input from Billy means a lot. I think it's somebody that's been there, and he's done that and I'm sure he's gone through the same type of thing in all his playoff successes."

Center Joel Eriksson Ek had to be helped off the ice in the third period Wednesday after he crashed into the goalpost while cutting to the net. But after disappearing down the tunnel from the Wild bench, Eriksson Ek returned only minutes later and finished the game.

"I thought the crowd was going to give him a standing ovation when he came back because we sure did," Evason said.

Not only did Eriksson Ek get back on the ice, but he helped kill off Vegas' lone power play opportunity late in the third. When asked on Thursday how he's feeling, Eriksson Ek said, "I'm good," and that's encouraging news for the Wild.

Eriksson Ek's two goals are tied with Hartman for the most on the Wild, and Eriksson Ek has been a matchup specialist against Vegas while averaging the second-most minutes among Wild forwards at 18 minutes, 21 seconds.

"Ekker's been just at the top of his game," linemate Marcus Foligno said. "Just what he does for our team is so special. So, it's always tough when you see a guy go down like that. But the guy's a strong kid. We knew that he wanted to come back, so we were happy that there was nothing serious."

Foligno helped the Wild capture momentum in the second period when his hit on the Golden Knight's Zach Whitecloud into the boards shook loose a pane of glass.

Overall, Foligno had a team-high four hits in 16:35 of ice time — this after he said he was "so-so" to suit up for Game 6. Foligno didn't play the last 7:48 of Game 5 at Vegas and was dealing with what he called "a little stinger" but he said he felt "100%" on Wednesday.

"If you're not feeling 100%, I don't want to go out there at that time," he said. "Put someone else out there that's 100% that can get the job done. We've got all the guys that can do it. It was just something that felt great [Wednesday] morning and hopefully I'll be feeling great [Thursday], too. So, it's all good now."

As soon as a shot from Vegas' Chandler Stephenson sailed past Wild goalie Cam Talbot in the third period to tie Game 6 at a goal apiece, Foligno skated toward the nearest official.

"I went right to the ref and said, 'It's not a goal because I've done it before,'" he recalled.

Foligno was right.

In Game 4, Eriksson Ek had a goal overturned because the NHL determined Foligno "impaired Marc-Andre Fleury's ability to play his position in the crease" while Foligno was set up as a screen in front of the net. And the league cited the same rule when disallowing Vegas' goal after winger Alex Tuch was inside the crease. The goal was initially called back by the officials, a call that was upheld after the Golden Knights used a coach's challenge to take another look.

"It's our job as forwards, as I have a really good sense for it, we've got to get out of the paint," Foligno said. "So, you can't just sit in the blue paint and expect the goalie to move around you. That's not how it is. So happy that they called it back."

Hartman's finish on the game-winning goal Wednesday tied his career high for goals in the playoffs from 2018 with the Predators when he also scored twice, and Hartman's production came after he had nine shots turned aside by Fleury through the first two games — including five in the Wild's 1-0 overtime victory to open the series.

"I wasn't too frustrated after that. We won the game," Hartman said. "I knew the chances were gonna come. It was only a matter of time. You get enough chances, it goes in eventually."