The Vegas Golden Knights (20-11-12) secured their third consecutive win with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues (17-21-8) Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Mitch Marner scored a goal and an assist, and Mark Stone’s empty-net goal tied a franchise record for consecutive games with a goal (seven). Notably, the Golden Knights got a significant boost to the lineup with the return of Shea Theodore, who scored the game-winning goal after missing 11 contests.
The Golden Knights wrapped up the season series against St. Louis with a 2-1-0 record after beating the Blues 4-1 in November and losing 4-3 last Friday.
Akira Schmid got the nod and was able to pick up his 13th win of the season. The recently recalled Carl Lindbom served as backup with the injury to Carter Hart, who is now considered week-to-week.
Continuing with their recent trend, the Golden Knights gave up the first goal, with center Robert Thomas opening the scoring less than a minute into the contest. The puck took a crazy bounce off the back wall and came right in front for Thomas, who beat an unsuspecting Schmid to make it 1-0.
However, instead of the Golden Knights falling into another two-goal hole, Marner capitalized on another strange bounce and scored his 10th of the year to knot things up at 1-1. Skating in his 700th career game, Marner demonstrated slick mitts to deke around Jordan Binnington before putting home the rebound at 7:24.
Prior to Marner’s goal, a hit by Stone on Blues defenseman Philip Broberg sent Broberg face-down onto the ice and ultimately knocked him out of the game, leaving the Blues with five defensemen in the second half of a back-to-back. Stone answered for the hit, as Blues captain Brayden Schenn challenged the Vegas captain, nearly tearing his jersey in half in the process. Binnington later got involved with Keegan Kolesar in a very lively opening frame.
But it was a largely dominant 20 minutes for the Golden Knights, who outshot the visitors 12-4 and led 7-1 in high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
The second period starts with another early goal off a fortunate bounce, though this one went in Vegas’ favor. Jack Eichel threw a puck towards Reilly Smith at the doorstep, but it deflected off Blues rearguard Colton Parayko and into the net to make it 2-1 at 1:27.
The Golden Knights continued to play well, limiting mistakes and controlling play. Eventually, Theodore broke through for the Golden Knights’ third consecutive goal, making it 3-1 at 15:48.
Tyler Tucker dangerously cross-checked Pavel Dorofeyev into the boards a few minutes into the third period, though Dorofeyev’s retaliatory penalty was the only call made.
On the ensuing power play, the Blues pulled within one thanks to Jake Neighbours’ 11th of the season. Eichel was looking for a shorthanded offensive opportunity but turned the puck over, setting up a 2-on-1 the other way that made it a 3-2 game 3:33 into the third.
The Blues later pulled Binnington with 2:33 remaining, but the Golden Knights wasted little time. As they had been doing throughout the game, the Golden Knights won a race to the puck and calmly got it out of the zone. However, this clear made its way into the empty cage, and Stone’s 15th of the year restored Vegas’ two-goal lead.
Stone extended his goal streak to seven games, tying Max Pacioretty’s franchise record of seven straight games with a goal set in 2021-22.
The Golden Knights closed out the 4-2 win to sweep their two-game homestand.
It was a very strong performance by the Golden Knights, who limited the Blues to just 19 shots.
Schmid played well, giving up one goal off an improbable bounce and the other on a 2-on-1. He finished the game with 17 saves on 19 shots for an .895 save percentage. He has been in the crease for 13 of Vegas’ 20 wins and is 13-4-5 on the year.
Marner stood out throughout the contest in what was one of his most effective games. He finished the game with a goal and an assist, giving him multi-point efforts in each of the last three games, all of which were wins. Marner has 17 multi-point games this season and is now tied with Eichel for the team lead in points with 46.
The Marner, Smith and Dorofeyev line led 13-3 in Corsi, 7-2 in shots and 1-0 in goals with a 69.84 percent expected goal share in 11:15, and Marner led Vegas in individual expected goals (0.45) and individual scoring chances (4).
Theodore’s return played a key role in the win, and his puck-moving ability noticeably improved Vegas’ transition game, particularly on the blue lines. This led to plenty of time in the Blues’ end. He recorded a goal, a plus-one rating and two shots in 21:57, which led all Vegas skaters.
The Golden Knights got goals from four top players in Marner, Eichel, Theodore and Stone, though other depth pieces contributed to the win. Though he didn’t record a point, Smith went to the net on both second-period goals to help Vegas take a 3-1 lead into the third period. Smith has three goals in his last three games and has responded well after being a healthy scratch.
This marks the first three-game winning streak for Vegas since the beginning of December. The Golden Knights are slowly finding their way back to winning hockey, and this was a cleaner effort than many recent games.
However, like the Golden Knights’ previous two opponents, the Blues have struggled to score, compete and win this season. The Blues also were down a defenseman and were skating in the second half of a back-to-back. Even so, the Golden Knights weren’t able to find a way to win when they came up short in St. Louis eight days ago, so this last week has been an important step in the right direction.
The Golden Knights will be back in action tomorrow in San Jose as they take on the red-hot Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Photo via Golden Knights