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Top line leads Golden Knights to thrilling 5-4 shootout victory against Blues

Posted on by Jillian Wagner

The Vegas Golden Knights hosted the St. Louis Blues Friday night at T-Mobile Arena, and it was another classic battle between these two clubs. In the end, the Golden Knights were victorious, coming away with a 5-4 shootout win for their second straight win on home ice.

The Golden Knights’ top line of Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone and Michael Amadio combined for nine points and scored both of Vegas’ goals in the shootout.

Stephenson tied the game at 4-4 late in regulation on a 6-on-4 power play, forcing overtime with his fourth point of the night. He and Stone scored for Vegas in the shootout, with Stone’s fourth-round tally proving to be the game-winner.

Stephenson’s goal and three assists extended his point streak to seven games, during which he has collected 14 points. This was his second four-point game in that seven-game stretch; he leads the Golden Knights in scoring with 36 points in 36 games.

Amadio stretched his point streak to three games, while Stone will enter the holiday break with five points in his last two.

Logan Thompson surrendered four goals in his 16th win of the year but came up with some huge saves in the third period to keep Vegas in the game. He stopped three of four St. Louis attempts in the shootout, getting a little help from the post as well as some puck luck.

Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas, finding the scoresheet for the fourth game in a row since returning from a lengthy absence.

The Golden Knights’ best period was the first, and Vegas carried a 1-0 lead into intermission thanks to Pietrangelo’s fourth of the season 5:22 into the game.

It was a beauty, as the blueliner accepted a feed from Stephenson, drove to the net and roofed a backhand shot over Blues netminder Jordan Binnington.

St. Louis was the better team in the second, but the two clubs combined for five goals in a back-and-forth marathon.

St. Louis wasted no time getting on the board, as Pavel Buchnevich beat Thompson just 39 seconds in.

But a little less than four minutes later, Stone restored Vegas’ lead with his 15th of the season.

However, that lead was short-lived, as Vladimir Tarasenko’s power-play strike evened things up at 2-2 less than two minutes later.

The Blues then took their first lead of the game exactly two minutes after that, as Justin Faulk’s shot deflected off a Vegas stick, bounced and got through Thompson.

The Blues held that 3-2 lead for most of the period, but Amadio scored with 1:26 remaining in the frame.

It was a gorgeous passing play by the top line, as Stephenson sent a cross-ice feed to Stone in the slot before Stone found Amadio wide open for the backdoor finish.

The Blues poured on the pressure in the third period, but Thompson came up with multiple clutch saves to keep the Golden Knights in the game. He couldn’t hold off the Blues forever, though, as Noel Acciari’s tip in front beat Thompson to give the Blues a 4-3 lead 10:45 into the third.

But the Golden Knights capitalized on a late power play, pulling the goalie to set up a 6-on-4 advantage. Pietrangelo’s point shot missed wide but banked off the wall behind the net, landing right on the stick of Stephenson, who was there to put it away.

The goal came with 1:36 remaining in regulation, forcing overtime and eventually a shootout. Robert Thomas, Brayden Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly were unable to beat Thompson, with Tarasenko scoring the lone goal for St. Louis.

But in the third round — when the Golden Knights needed a goal — Stephenson came through once again, capping off a phenomenal performance.

Stone took care of the rest with the game-winner in round four. He almost lost control of the puck but was able to corral it before beating Binnington short-side.

The Golden Knights finished up their four-game homestand with a respectable 2-2-0 record after dropping the first two contests.

More importantly, however, the Golden Knights scored nine goals in the two wins; prior to Wednesday’s game against Arizona, Vegas had gone seven straight on home ice without potting more than two.

Amadio had a fantastic night in an elevated role and now has five points in his last three games. Pavel Dorofeyev, who was in the lineup in place of the injured Jonathan Marchessault, recorded one block in 11:14 on a new-look third line with Jake Leschyshyn and Jonas Rondbjerg.

Thompson improved his overall record to 16-8-0 after stopping 25 of 29 shots for an .862 save percentage.

The Golden Knights will return from the holiday break on Tuesday with a back-to-back set in California against the Kings and Ducks.

Vegas enters the holiday break as the top team in the Western Conference with 49 points (24-11-1).

Talking Points