Preview: Blues vs. Golden Knights

BLUES The first of two consecutive games between the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights was a thriller at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. Despite Jack Eichel’s game-tying goal in the third period, Jordan Binnington’s early work in goal and Pavel Buchnevich’s overtime heroics made the difference and gave the Blues a road win over the defending champions.

“I think we did a good job stepping up tonight and getting the win,” said Binnington after his 33-save effort. “I was just staying in the moment, staying present… It was definitely a fun game to play in as a goalie.”

Advertisement

The win was only the Blues’ third overtime game this season and first since a shootout win over Seattle in their Home Opener on Oct. 14. Out of 13 matchups all-time between the Blues and the Golden Knights in Vegas, eight have been decided via overtime or shootout.

With the Blues handing Vegas their sixth loss in their last nine games, the Golden Knights will undoubtedly be hungry for quick revenge when the two teams rematch on Wednesday night in St. Louis. The Blues then wrap up their road-heavy stretch with a back-to-back in Columbus and Chicago this weekend.

They meet the Golden Knights again with a record of 13-10-1, worth 27 points and fifth in the Central Division.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS Despite a 34-27 shot advantage including a number of high-danger chances, the Vegas Golden Knights were unable to get a second puck past Jordan Binnington on Monday night as the defending champions continue their run of inconsistent play. Since their 11-0-1 streak to open up the season ended with a regulation loss to Anaheim, the Golden Knights are 5-5-4, sharing 21st in the NHL.

Jack Eichel’s third-period goal put the Golden Knights on the board, assisted by Jonathan Marchessault and former Blues Captain Alex Pietrangelo. Fresh off his second Stanley Cup, Pietrangelo has 12 points this season including three in his last three games.

“Good for (Jordan) Binnington, he played well,” said Vegas Head Coach Bruce Cassidy. “He was the biggest reason they got two (points) and we only got one… Our execution could be better (on Wednesday).”

The Golden Knights have also been playing a road-heavy schedule as of late. Saturday’s game in Dallas marks the end of a stretch where Vegas will have played 10 out of 13 games on the road – exactly the same split as the Blues.

Vegas follows the Blues back to St. Louis for a home-and-home rematch at a season record of 16-5-5, worth 37 points and first in the Pacific Division.

HEAD TO HEAD Up 1-0-0 in the season series, the Blues host the Golden Knights once more this season on March 25. Since Vegas entered the NHL in 2017-18, the Blues are 11-6-7 against them overall and 6-4-1 at Enterprise Center

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Robert Thomas, who earned his team-leading 16th assist of the season on Pavel Buchnevich’s overtime goal on Monday night. Thomas has 19 points in his last 17 games dating back to Nov. 1, sharing 11th in the NHL in that span.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS Jonathan Marchessault, who earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 32-year-old foward shares the team lead with 11 goals this season, including a hat trick against Winnipeg on Nov. 2.

BLUE NOTES

• The Blues are now 12-0-0 this season in games where they score the first goal. Only the Rangers and Canucks have 13 such wins, and the Blues are the only team in the NHL to not have a loss of any kind when scoring first this season
• The Blues are 7-3-0 at Enterprise Center this season, ranking 7th in the NHL with a .700 point percentage on home ice
• Jordan Binnington is 5-1-0 at home this season with a 2.39 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. Among 44 NHL goaltenders who have appeared in at least five home games this season, Binnington ranks No. 7 in GAA and No. 6 in save percentage
• After posting just three points in his first nine games this year, Pavel Buchnevich is up to 16 points over his last 13 games and currently ranks second with 19 points this season. Since arriving in St. Louis ahead of the 2021-22 season, Buchnevich leads the Blues with 1.03 points per game and is the only skater above a point-per-game pace