ST. PAUL, Minn. — There was never any panic.

Frustration mounted, sure. The Golden Knights would never want to trail a best-of-seven series at any point.

They preached that if they stuck with it, got a couple of bounces, they would break through.

Three wins later, after once trailing in the best-of-seven first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, the Knights find themselves off to the second round after winning 3-2 in Game 6 on Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

“We battled. They played hard. That was a tough series,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said.

The Knights will face the Edmonton Oilers in the second round in a rematch of the 2023 second-round series that the Knights won in six games.

The Wild gave the Knights their best.

Minnesota used its forecheck to force the Knights to break pucks out less cleanly than normal. The Wild’s top stars, wingers Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, dominated at times.

Those two factors explained why the Knights found themselves down 2-1 after a 5-2 loss in St. Paul in Game 3 on April 24.

Playoff hockey isn’t that complicated. Momentum swings from game to game, but sometimes it takes a few bounces.

The Knights got them in Game 4, winning 4-3 in overtime. They got them again — with some help from the video department — in the 3-2 overtime home win in Game 5.

“Even after that Game 3, I felt more confident in our group, as weird as that is,” McNabb said. “Things weren’t really going our way, and we were starting to find our game.”

In Game 6, the Knights finally wore down Kaprizov and Boldy, and their top guys answered.

Center Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone had a goal and an assist each, and defenseman Shea Theodore scored a power-play goal to put the Knights into the second round for the fifth time in eight seasons.

Goaltender Adin Hill, who struggled in the series and was pulled in the third period of Game 3, saved his best performance for the clinching game with 29 saves.

“Our top guys were a lot more productive than they were the last three games,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That’s probably the biggest story right there. They got better as the series went on, and it culminated tonight.”

Eichel, who recorded his first three points of the series in the previous two games, scored his first goal of the series at 16:12 of the second period after receiving a pinpoint saucer pass from Stone, then finishing the breakaway by scoring glove side on Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

Stone, also without a point until Game 4, gave the Knights a 3-1 lead with 3:58 remaining when he batted a McNabb pass from mid-air into the back of the net.

Minnesota center Ryan Hartman scored his second goal of the game 31 seconds later to cut it to 3-2.

The Wild then pulled Gustavsson for the extra attacker with two minutes remaining.

The Knights, who had a 24-13 edge in blocked shots, were credited with eight of them in the six-on-five.

Minnesota showed how tough it was to play against the Wild when they had the lead by taking away the middle of the ice. That same recipe is how the Knights closed games two years ago on their way to the Stanley Cup.

It took some adversity — probably earlier than they expected — but they’re one round down and 12 wins to go from getting back there.

“I thought it showed a lot of resiliency from our group,” Eichel said. “Just a ton of credit to the group, finding a way to win. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters this time of year.”

Here are three takeaways from the series win:

1. Mr. Game 6

The series was going to eventually be decided on the play of a goalie. Hill wound up making the clutch saves.

He kept the Knights ahead in the first period, starting with a left-skate save on left wing Marcus Foligno in front of the crease. Moments later, he stopped Boldy in close.

Hill improved to 4-0 in Game 6 situations with the Knights. This was his third series-clinching win in that spot.

“I’ve always just liked them,” Hill said of big games. “The bigger the spotlight, the more fun it is to play, right?”

2. Top line wins

It took six games, but the Knights’ top line got the better of Minnesota’s.

Kaprizov, Boldy and center Joel Eriksson Ek had a 14-7 advantage in shot attempts at five-on-five but were edged 5-4 in shots on goal Thursday, according to Natural Stat Trick.

One of those shots was Eichel’s goal.

Not only did Eichel’s line outscore the Wild’s top line 1-0, but he was on the ice for 11:04 of the 18:01 Kaprizov played at five-on-five.

Minnesota, which could dictate the matchup with last change before faceoffs, chose to play top line against top line. The Knights won that battle Thursday.

3. Fleury farewell

The career of Marc-Andre Fleury comes to an end at the hands of his former team.

The 40-year-old goaltender, who played four seasons with the Knights from 2018 to 2021, is expected to retire. The second-winningest goalie in NHL history with 575 victories won 117 games with the Knights.

Fleury was the last player in the Wild’s handshake line, hugging former teammates and shaking hands. The Knights stayed on the ice to acknowledge Fleury before taking one wave to the crowd and quickly skating to the back.

Fleury made one final appearance against his former club, making six saves after replacing an ill Gustavsson in the third period of Game 5 on Tuesday.

The final image of him at T-Mobile Arena was center Brett Howden scoring the overtime winner on him to give the Knights a 3-2 series lead.

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

SERIES SCHEDULE

(Golden Knights win 4-2)

All games on KMCC-34 and KKGK (1340 AM, 98.9 FM)

Game 1: Golden Knights 4, Wild 2

Game 2: Wild 5, Golden Knights 2

Game 3: Wild 5, Golden Knights 2

Game 4: Golden Knights 4, Wild 3 (OT)

Game 5: Golden Knights 3, Wild 2 (OT)

Game 6: Golden Knights 3, Wild 2