The Vegas Golden Knights snapped a four-game losing streak with a solid 4-2 win against the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at Enterprise Center.
The Golden Knights entered the game in the midst of a 1-5-1 stretch, including a 5-4 shootout loss to the Blues on Monday. But Vegas returned to the win column with a much-needed bounceback performance to claim win No. 30 on the year (30-14-4).
After a few days of rest, the Golden Knights bucked the trend and got off to a fantastic start, as Mark Stone gave Vegas an early lead just 19 seconds into the game.
It was a vintage Stone play, as the Vegas captain stripped the puck from and then powered his way past Cam Fowler before kicking the puck to his blade and putting it past Blues netminder Joel Hofer.
Victor Olofsson gave the road team a 2-0 lead roughly nine minutes into the first period. Ivan Barbashev’s gorgeous backhand feed set up Olofsson’s 11th of the year, which came 11 seconds after a Vegas power play had expired.
Olofsson extended his road point streak to 10 games, as the Swedish winger has seven goals and 14 points in 10 road games this season.
But Jordan Kyrou got the Blues on the board 1:28 later with a laser from the right circle, which seemed to catch Ilya Samsonov by surprise.
Special teams was the name of the game in the second period, as Vegas scored a power-play goal and went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Vegas held St. Louis to four shots in the middle frame; the Blues’ eight total shots through the first two periods was the fewest the Golden Knights have allowed through 40 minutes this season.
Pavel Dorofeyev’s 21st of the year restored Vegas’ two-goal lead 6:30 into the second.
Vegas proceeded to kill off back-to-back penalties to carry a 3-1 lead into the third.
St. Louis had nothing going in the third, but Blues coach Jim Montgomery decided to mix things up by pulling the goalie with more than six minutes to go. The aggressive move paid off, as Robert Thomas chipped a rebound under Samsonov to make it a one-goal game with 3:26 remaining.
The Blues continued to push, but Vegas stood tall defensively, forcing the play to the outside. Tomas Hertl sealed the 4-2 win with an empty-net goal. Though it was challenged for offside, the goal counted, helping the Golden Knights secure a critical two points. It was Hertl’s sixth goal in his last six games.
Vegas finished the season series with a 2-0-1 record against the Blues
The Golden Knights got off to a much-needed strong start and played a much more structured game. Stone set the tone early, and the Golden Knights finally delivered as close to a 60-minute effort as they have in some time. Though the Blues made it interesting, it was a one-sided game for most of the night.
Vegas needed its best players to step up, and the top line did just that. It was an excellent showing by the Jack Eichel, Barbashev and Stone line, which was on the ice to start each period. The trio led 15-10 in Corsi and held an impressive 10-2 edge in shots, with all three players finding the scoresheet. Eichel, who played 23:04, led all Vegas forwards in ice time by more than 3:30.
Brendan Brisson was in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 30; he, Tanner Laczynski and Alexander Holtz struggled as a unit, but the Golden Knights’ top six carried the load.
Even though the Hertl, Olofsson and Dorofeyev line didn’t score at even strength, all three found twine in the win. The line outshot its opponents 5-1 and had a 73.85 percent expected goal share in 10:34.
Samsonov made 15 saves on 17 shots for an .882 save percentage. Though he got the win, he looked shaky for most of the night but benefited from Vegas’ shot suppression.
Special teams were critical once again. Not only did Vegas’ penalty kill protect the lead in the second, but Olofsson’s goal came right after a power play, and Dorofeyev’s power-play marker in the second was not only timely but proved to be the game-winner. The Golden Knights continue to rely on the power play, which has clicked in seven straight games.
At the end of the day, this is just one win. It’s clearly a step in the right direction for Vegas, but the Golden Knights need to build off it and show some consistency over a series of games. They’ll have a chance to do so tomorrow afternoon (4:30 p.m. PT on ESPN) in Dallas when they wrap up the back-to-back.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.