Brett Howden scored two goals, and the Vegas Golden Knights opened their first-round Western Conference playoffs series with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

The Pacific Division champion Golden Knights downed the wild-card Minnesota Wild 4-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven first-round series.

The Golden Knights are supposed to be the deeper team, one capable of getting goals from each of its four lines. Yes, fourth-liner Brett Howden got two goals in a Game 1 victory, but in the past two games, Reilly Smith is the only bottom-six forward to score.