Golden Knights Open the Scoring Floodgates; Golden Knights defeat St. Louis Blues 6-3

The game opened with a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting that occurred at UNLV before the game.

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-3 despite trailing 3-1 after the first period.

The game within the game: All eyes are on Jordan Binnington. The Golden Knights generated 20 high-danger chances Monday against the Blues and Binnington turned every one of them away. Coach Bruce Cassidy said scoring the game’s first goal was one of the keys to beating the Blues.

First period: Zach Whitecloud scored the game’s first goal 8:03 into the first period and everything was going well. Logan Thompson was making good saves. All four lines for the Golden Knights were getting scoring opportunities. The Golden Knights looked to be all set to avenge Monday’s defeat by the Blues. Scripps Sports displayed the graphic showing the Blues were 1-10-1 after allowing the first goal.

Then the wheels fell off.

Jake Neighbors, Kevin Hays, and Jordan Kyrou scored the game’s next three goals due to blown coverages, too many players collapsing on the puck, poor turnovers, and poor efforts in one-on-one situations.

The Golden Knights chased a game for the second time this week against the Blues.

Second period: The Golden Knights scored four goals in 10 minutes to completely turn the game around. Jack Eichel started the scoring off a turnover created by Ivan Barbashev in the offensive zone. Jonathan Marchessault scored a power-play goal with a one-timer from a between-the-legs, no-look pass from William Karlsson. Keegan Kolesar set up shop in front of the net and scored a nice tip-in goal from Brayden McNabb. Michael Amadio capped off an immaculate second period with a late power-play goal.

Was there anything said by a player or coach Cassidy between the first and second period?

Turning point: Eichel has the Golden Knights on his shoulders right now. That is not to say he is the only Golden Knight performing well. Eichel is on another planet right now. The Golden Knights are getting timely scoring from Eichel whose second-period goal started the comeback.

Third period: The Golden Knights held a 14-1 shot advantage at one point during the third period and were in total control. The Blues could not stay out of the box.

Key storyline: The Golden Knights were 5-1 after a loss during last year’s Stanley Cup playoff run and outscored their opponents 25-12 in those games. The Golden Knights had had a similar result tonight against the Blues.

Quotable: “It’s a difficult day and we stand together with the community.” Whitecloud on the tragic event at UNLV earlier in the day. “It seems to happen whenever he’s (Whitecloud’s father) in town.” Whitecloud the luck the Dad’s trip brings to the Golden Knights.

“The city means everything to us. We are going to rally around the city and try and give back as much as we can.” Kolesar on the tragic event at UNLV earlier in the day. “It’s nice to see that the work you put in gets rewarded.” Kolesar on his tip-in goal.

“Our hearts go out to the people in Las Vegas. We have people close to us who are working at UNLV.” Coach Cassidy on the tragic event at UNLV earlier in the day. “We didn’t manage the puck particularly well.” Coach Cassidy on the victory. “You got to have a goaltender that gives you a chance to win. Wins have been tough to come by for Logan, the other goalies have been on. He’s our guy for now until Adin gets healthy.”

Next up: The Golden Knights road trip continues on Saturday against the Dallas Stars.