Five Unanswered Goals Propel Blues to 5-2 Win over Golden Knights

The St Louis Blues (10-6-2) scored five unanswered goals and defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (11-8) 5-2 Monday Night. This was the first game back on the road for the Golden Knights as they just finished off a six-game homestand.

They will play Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators and Max Pacioretty is expected to return. A perfect bounce-back opportunity for the team.

The Golden Knights Monday night were forced to once again patchwork together another lineup. Adam Brooks made his debut for the Golden Knights after being claimed on waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. Shea Theodore returned to the lineup after missing two games and replaced Dylan Coghlan. Robin Lehner started and finished the game. It was a night to forget for him.

The first period was absolutely chaotic and there are few words that I can use to describe the opening frame that are PG-13. In what was a rare occurrence, the Golden Knights came out and got the first two goals of the game.

A good start for once.

Just 36 seconds into the game Chandler Stephenson scored his first goal in eight games off a juicy rebound from former Blue Alex Pietrangelo. Later on, Ben Hutton found Reilly Smith wide open and hit him with a pass. Smith once again was money in alone on Jordan Binnington and score to make it 2-0. 

But the Golden Knight’s defensive structure, shaky goaltending, and unfortunate luck allowed the Blues to come back and score three goals in the first period. Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly scored on a sharp angle after an amazing pass from former Golden Knight David Perron. Tyler Bozak then scored his first of the season to tie things up 2-2. 

Nicolas Roy then turned the puck over to Justin Faulk who then danced in on Lehner to score his 100th career NHL goal. In two minutes and forty-five seconds the St. Louis Blues scored three to take the lead. There were five goals scored in the span of twelve-and-a-half minutes in the first period.

Mark Stone, who is still looking for his first goal of the season, got a few chances to try and even things for the Golden Knights. He hit the post on a shorthanded chance late in the second.

The Blues extended their lead to two-goal with Brandon Saad scoring a powerplay goal in the second period. This snapped a 0-17 powerplay drought the Blues had against the Golden Knights penalty kill. 

On the Golden Knights powerplay moments later, Keegan Kolesar scored a powerplay goal. But it was waved off immediately for a blatant high stick and Kolesar knew it.

After two periods the Blues were outshooting the Golden Knights 27-16.

The Golden Knights came out charging in the third period and drew a penalty as Faulk tripped up Jonas Ronbjerg. The team desperately needed a powerplay goal but failed to even register a shot. 

After a nice save from Lehner on Vladamir Tarasenko, he was unable to stop Niko Mikkola as he scored his first goal of the year off the rush to make things 5-2.

Lehner heard it from the St. Louis crowd as a result. 

After a great start, the Golden Knights struggled defensively and were no match for the Blues offense. The team will look to rebound, likely with Max Pacioretty in the lineup, Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators.