The Vegas Golden Knights kept their January surge rolling Saturday night, beating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena behind a response goal from Mitch Marner, a go-ahead finish from Jack Eichel and a steady 60 minutes from Akira Schmid.
“We’re stacking some wins,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If we want to get back where we want to be, we’re going to have to do that.”
Vegas (20-11-12) has won three straight. St. Louis (17-21-8) has dropped three in a row.
A weird bounce, then Vegas settles in
St. Louis struck 53 seconds in when Robert Thomas pounced on a loose puck and snapped it home for a 1-0 lead. It was a jarring start, and it came during a first five minutes that also included a fight at 4:27 between Mark Stone and Brayden Schenn.
Vegas didn’t chase the game for long. Marner tied it 1-1 at 7:34 on an unassisted wrister after a broken play turned into a clean look in tight, the kind of quick strike that changed the feel of the night.
“It’s a 60-minute game,” Eichel said. “They got a gift early, but we stayed with it.”
Eichel’s touch, then Theodore’s fingerprints
Vegas took the lead early in the middle frame when Eichel made it 2-1 at 1:27, finishing a net-front chance with Kaedan Korczak earning the assist.
Later, Shea Theodore’s return started to show up everywhere. Theodore scored at 15:48 to push the lead to 3-1, ripping a wrist shot after taking a feed from Jeremy Lauzon, with Marner also picking up an assist.
“It felt good,” Theodore said. “Sometimes it takes a little bit to come back, but my legs felt good, my body felt good.”
St. Louis also took a hit to its blue line when Philip Broberg left early after contact from Stone and did not return, forcing the Blues into a shortened rotation the rest of the way.
A brief scare, then Stone puts it away
The Blues made it interesting early in the third when Pavel Dorofeyev was called for roughing at 2:34, and Jake Neighbours scored on the power play at 3:33 to pull St. Louis within 3-2.
Vegas didn’t panic. Schmid cleaned up the minutes that followed, and the Knights protected the middle until Stone capped it with an empty-netter at 17:36 to extend his goal streak to seven games.
“Schmid played great,” Eichel said. “We did enough to win, and when you get two points, you’re happy.”
The numbers that mattered
Vegas finished with a 25-19 edge in shots. The Golden Knights went 0-for-1 on the power play, while St. Louis went 1-for-1 in just 59 seconds of advantage time. Schmid earned the win with 17 saves; Jordan Binnington took the loss with 21 saves before the Blues pulled him for the extra attacker late.
Up next for the Golden Knights:
The Golden Knights hit the road Sunday, Jan. 11, visiting the San Jose Sharks (21-18-3) at 5 p.m. PT.
Vegas then continues its trip Wednesday, Jan. 14, visiting the Los Angeles Kings (18-14-10) at 7 p.m. PT.
The Golden Knights (20-11-12) return home Thursday, Jan. 15, to host the Toronto Maple Leafs (22-15-7) at 6:30 p.m. PT.
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