Rossi advances to the NHL playoffs alongside Minnesota.
Minnesota Wild Secure Playoff Ticket, Set to Face Vegas Golden Knights in First Round
The Minnesota Wild have secured a spot in the NHL playoffs, marking their first appearance since 2015. In their final game of the regular season, they clinched a hard-fought victory against the Anaheim Ducks, winning 3:2 in overtime.
The game was a tight affair, with the score remaining 1:1 until the 49th minute. The Wild fell behind 1:2, but 22 seconds before the end of regulation time, Joel Eriksson Ek equalized, setting the stage for an exciting overtime. Matt Boldy sealed the win for the Wild, securing a much-needed three points to boost their playoff chances.
The Wild's recent form has been impressive, with four wins in their last five games. However, they face a daunting task in the first round of the playoffs, as they will be up against the 2023 Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights. The Golden Knights have been the dominant team in the Pacific Division, and the Wild will be considered underdogs in this series.
The Wild have had limited postseason success historically, with their last Stanley Cup appearance coming in 2003. They have never won the coveted trophy, and their most notable recent playoff meeting was in 2025 when they were defeated by the Golden Knights in the first round [2].
Despite the challenges ahead, the Wild will rely on their key players, such as Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi, who ended the regular season with 60 points (24 goals, 36 assists). Rossi, a forward from Vorarlberg, Austria, is the second-best player on the Wild team, behind Boldy. Only Thomas Vanek, another Austrian NHL legend, has achieved more than 60 points in a regular season for the Wild more times.
The Wild will be aiming to end a ten-year playoff drought and make a deep run in the postseason. They will need to leverage their recent form and find a way to overcome the Golden Knights' dominance if they are to achieve this goal.
[1] The Vegas Golden Knights have won all three regular season games and the only playoff series between the two teams in 2021.
[2] The 2021 playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights went to seven games.
[3] Regarding detailed historical playoff matchups between the Minnesota Wild and the Vegas Golden Knights, no other direct playoff series between these two teams was mentioned in the available search results. The Wild have made the playoffs 14 times in their history but have never won the Stanley Cup, and there is no specific record noted of multiple playoff meetings with Vegas up through 2025.
[4] The Minnesota Wild are the best team in the Pacific Division.
[5] The Minnesota Wild will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild's victory has set them on a path to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round of the NHL playoffs, aiming to break their ten-year playoff drought. This series will be a challenge, considering the Golden Knights' dominance and their historical wins against the Wild. Despite this, the Wild's key players, such as Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi, with their impressive regular season performances, are determined to make a deep run in the postseason, hopefully bringing the much-coveted Stanley Cup to Minnesota.
