Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images.

Heartbreak. One word to describe Game 5's emotions for the Minnesota Wild. A game that they played very well in, ends in total heartbreak.

"There's highs and lows always, and we're a couple inches away from this game being over," Wild defenseman Brock Faber said.

In a 2-1 game in the third period that Marc-Andre Fleury led the Wild on the ice for with Filip Gustavsson going down with a sickness, the Wild were able to tie the game off the stick of Matt Boldy.

It was Boldy's fifth goal of the playoffs which puts him in a tie with Kirill Kaprizov, Nathan MacKinnon and Andrei Svechnikov for the NHL's playoff lead in goals.

With 1:20 left on the clock in the third period of a 2-2 game, Ryan Hartman entered the zone before taking it hard to the net to beat Adin Hill. Hartman went from his backhand to his forehand and chipped it over Hill's glove after it hit his own leg and in.

RYAN HARTMAN GIVES MINNESOTA THE LEAD WITH 1 MINUTE LEFT AND HITS THE RUNNING MAN CELLY 🏃‍♂️‍➡️ pic.twitter.com/ONEe2bTETX
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 30, 2025

The NHL decided to review it for a kicking motion. After a long review, it was determined to be a good goal.

During the review by the NHL for a kicking motion, the Vegas Golden Knights had all the time in the world to see if there was anything they could challenge.

There was.

Wild forward Gustav Nyquist was offsides. After review the play was called back for offsides and the game went into overtime.

Vegas went on to win it in overtime just under five minutes in.

Ryan Hartman's potential game-winner comes off the board after a successful Vegas offside challenge#mnwild | #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/LBBTxfdaQJ
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 30, 2025

"Inches, right?" Fleury said on the turn of events.

There isn't much to say after a game like this but the Wild held their heads high knowing they have played five great games in this series. They have dropped two straight in overtime after taking a 2-1 series lead after three games.

When asked about breaking down the game-winning goal by Vegas, Wild head coach John Hynes didn't want to throw anyone under the bus.

"Yeah, I thought we battled hard tonight," Hynes said. "It was a tight game but it's all about moving on to Game 6 now."

A lot of the time when the fourth line is on the ice for Minnesota, the third defense pair is also on the ice at the same time. It was Justin Brazeau and Yakov Trenin's fourth shift each since the second period.

It started when Marco Rossi was out-battled along the boards by Tanner Pearson. The puck rimmed up the wall to Nicolas Hague who sent it back down to Pearson. Hague was defended by Brazeau who went for the hit instead of going for the puck or trying to deflect it.

Zach Bogosian then mishandled the puck on the boards when Hague sent it down to Pearson.

Pearson regathered the puck, with neither Bogosian or Rossi on him, and sent it to the slot where Brett Howden was somehow left all alone.

Trenin was covering the far point where Alex Pietrangelo was standing. Jon Merrill, who entered the lineup because the Wild did not trust Zeev Buium in overtime in Game 4 and gave him zero shifts, was standing at the high circles covering no one.

BRETT HOWDEN OVERTIME WINNER 🤩

VEGAS TAKES THIS ONE IN @ENERGIZER OT AND ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM ADVANCING! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/MjK2GuNPNJ
— NHL (@NHL) April 30, 2025

Howden fired a shot and beat Fleury on the glove side. And just like that, the Wild are now down 3-2 in the series.

"We're feeling good. We're confident in our game," Boldy said after the game. "We know that we play the right way, we can beat this team. I think we've just got to kind of put that one behind us and stay positive. Take the good, fix the bad and kind of just keep our energy up. I think that's the biggest thing. You can't be deflated. It's a series. You go back home, you use our fans, you try to win that game, then anything happens in Game 7."

The Wild will head back home for a 6:30 start for Game 6 on Thursday. And as Faber said after the game, this thing is far from over.

"This thing is far from over. They still got to beat us. We're going to be ready for war on Thursday."

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