Zeev Buium Earns First NHL Point in Wild's Game 3

That's Wild

The Minnesota Wild have thrown top prospect Zeev Buium into the deep end, playing his first-ever NHL minutes in the playoffs and against a very good team. But in Game 3's 5-2 win to give the Wild a 2-1 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights, the 19-year-old managed to earn his first-ever NHL point on Kirill Kaprizov's game-opening goal.

• Sure, the Vegas Golden Knights are favored to win this first-round series, but the Minnesota Wild have some X-factors that were not accounted for. Sometimes, all it takes is that special something to really stand a chance, and the Wild have that. [StarTribune]
• Matt Boldy is meeting the moment. The Wild needed a player other than Kirill Kaprizov to be the offensive driver on this team, and the young winger is doing it. [Hockey Wilderness]
• But, is there a danger in putting Boldy, Kaprizov, and Joel Eriksson Ek together? Can they really fully embrace being a one-line team and make it work? [Hockey Wilderness]

Off the trail...

• After missing two full NHL seasons and over 1,000 days since being on NHL ice, Gabe Landeskog was back in the lineup for the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday night. [TheScore]
• Czech leaders condemn Russian threats against NHL great Dominik Hasek. [CBC]
• Top takeaways from the first 13 games of the NHL playoffs. [ESPN]
• After trying to trade away a whole lot of his veterans, acquiring troubled center J.T. Miller from Vancouver, and generally being unliked by a whole lot of his players, the New York Rangers signed general manager Chris Drury to a contract extension. [NHL.com]
• The Edmonton Oilers are breaking the glass in case of emergency. They have put Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid together on the same line. [Sporting News]