NBC’s coverage of the 2020-21 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs continues with Sunday’s matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild. Golden Knights-Wild stream coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
The Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights meet in a playoff series for the first time. Minnesota is making its eighth postseason appearance in the last nine seasons, having missed the 2018 playoffs. Vegas has been one of the League’s premier organizations since 2017-18, when it reached the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. This season, Vegas was the first team to secure a playoff spot.
This season, the Golden Knights were tied for the most points in the League with Colorado and dominated most of their competition. The one team which has given them fits was Minnesota and it’s not limited to just this year. Since Vegas entered the League in 2017-18, no team has more wins against them in the regular season than Minnesota (11-2-3 record). The Wild took five of eight meetings (5-1-2) this season, but lost their most recent contest, 3-2 in OT, on May 5.
[MORE: Golden Knights-Wild series preview]
Vegas won a franchise-record 10 straight games from Apr 9-28 and finished the regular season 15-3-0. The Golden Knights had the best goal differential in the league (+68) and were third in goals (3.39/game) and first in goals against (2.18/game). They had the league’s best penalty kill (86.8%), the most wins when scoring first (31) and rarely surrendered a lead (22-4-0 when leading after first period and 27-2-0 when leading after second period).
The last line of defense for the Golden Knights is the League’s best goalie tandem of Robin Lehner and Marc-Andre Fleury. The pair won the 2020-21 William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders who played for the team allowing the fewest goals during the regular season. Vegas yielded a League-low 124 goals in 56 games, four fewer than its closest competitor (Islanders: 128 GA).
[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 3 P.M. ET - NBC]
WHAT: Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights - Game 1
WHERE: T-Mobile Arena
WHEN: Sunday, May 16, 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
ON THE CALL: John Forslund, Joe Micheletti, Pierre McGuire
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Golden Knights-Wild stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
MONDAY’S NHL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Game 2: Bruins at Capitals (1-0), 7:30 p.m. ET - NBCSN (livestream)
Game 1: Predators at Hurricanes, 8 p.m. ET - CNBC (livestream)
Game 1: Blues at Avalanche, 10 p.m. ET - NBCSN (livestream)
