Coach Bruce Cassidy loved the first period. He also thought the third period was great. The second one wasn’t the best.

Playing well in two out of three periods tends to result in a victory. It was enough to deliver the Golden Knights one of their signature wins of the season.

Left wing Victor Olofsson broke a tie 3:49 into the third period with his second goal of the game, and the Knights salvaged a split of a back-to-back with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“We’re still striving for that 60 minutes,” Cassidy said, “but winning the hockey game is what matters.”

The Knights almost gave it away in regulation.

Center Nicolas Roy committed a tripping penalty on Wild forward Matt Boldy — the Knights’ first minor penalty of the game — with 49 seconds remaining, giving Minnesota a six-on-four.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and center Jack Eichel converged on a loose puck near the crease in the final seconds and managed to close the game with a small, but effective, penalty kill.

“It was big by our group there, six-on-four at the end of the game,” Eichel said. “They’ve got some good offensive players over there. It’s just desperation right there.”

Defenseman Shea Theodore had a goal and an assist, and goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves to give the Knights (20-8-3) their fifth win in six games.

That one loss was a disappointing 6-3 defeat in Edmonton 24 hours prior. Scoreboard aside, Cassidy was pleased with how the Knights generated offense. They just gave up too much, especially with four goals in the second period.

The second period Sunday wasn’t as much of an eyesore as Saturday, but the Knights couldn’t generate anything else after Theodore’s goal at 6:04 of the second gave them a 2-1 lead.

The Knights went the next 12:01 without a shot on goal.

Minnesota (20-7-4) controlled play with extended offensive-zone pressure during that time. The Wild were rewarded with star left wing Kirill Kaprizov scoring his second goal of the game at 16:56 to tie it 2-2.

The Knights regained the lead early in the third when Olofsson’s shot deflected off Minnesota forward Freddy Gaudreau’s stick and past goaltender Jesper Wallstedt for his second goal of the game. Olofsson, who scored a power-play goal in the first, capped the road trip with four goals in three games.

“Dangerous around the net. Can shoot the puck, and he had a great road trip,” center William Karlsson said of his linemate. “He’s been hot.”

The Knights earned four of six points on this road trip and earned wins against the top two teams in the Central Division — Minnesota and the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets (3-2 in overtime Thursday).

They now get to enjoy seven of their next eight games at home, starting Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks.

“You’re playing three very good teams out West,” Cassidy said. “We’ve put ourselves in that category.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Road warriors

So much for the Knights’ struggles away from home. Those are distant memories now.

Since starting 0-3-1 on the road, the Knights have gone 9-2-2 in their past 13 games and have earned a point in seven of their past eight.

2. Eichel makes history

Eichel recorded another multipoint game with two assists Sunday, becoming the fastest player to reach 200 career points with the Knights.

He did so in 195 games, surpassing captain Mark Stone’s mark of 214 games.

Eichel has been everything the Knights hoped for since acquiring him from the Buffalo Sabres in November 2021. The center is having the best start to a season of his career with 42 points in 31 games.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Eichel said. “It’s been an amazing time here with this organization.”

3. Barbashev injured

Leading goal scorer Ivan Barbashev suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period and did not return.

Barbashev got tangled up with Wild left wing Marcus Foligno and was slow to get up.

Barbashev, who has 15 goals and is 11 away from tying his career high, will be evaluated Monday.

Contact Danny Webster at [email protected]. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.