FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Blues- Game 24

The Vegas Golden Knights traveled to St. Louis to take on the Blues and put an end to their two game losing streak.

Jonathan Marchessault set the tempo early as he got the first good look of the game from the left circle with a shot on Jordan Binnington but was denied. Reeves showed his physicality at the beginning of the first as well as laying a huge hit on Kyle Clifford. While he has not shown up on the scoresheet much, he still makes his presence felt through his physical play. With a little over twelve minutes remaining in the period, Vegas got their first opportunity on the powerplay after Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly took a tripping penalty. The VGK powerplay was 0-13 over the last five games, good for their longest streak without a goal on the man advantage, and that trend continued with their first powerplay of the night.

The Knights eventually broke through at around the five-minute mark as captain Mark Stone redirected the puck past the Blues netminder from a pass by Chandler Stephenson to make it 1-0 VGK. Jonathan Marchessault quickly added to the lead, scoring from right in front of the net with 4:31 remaining in the opening period. With 3:56 remaining, the Knights were awarded another powerplay as Bortuzzo took a tripping penalty, but they failed to score again as well as not get any shots on net. To add insult to injury, Mark Stone took a slashing penalty in the final 39 seconds to put the Blues on the powerplay, which would carry over into the second period.

While it is never great to start a period shorthanded the Knights killed off their penalty to start the middle frame.

William Karlsson nearly widened the lead after a great tip on net, but Binnington was up to the task. At the 14:46 mark, Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly cut the lead in half as he hammered a one-timer past, Marc Andre Fleury. Both team’s goalies made big plays in a short amount of time, with Fleury getting a big glove save on Brayden Schenn, followed up by Jordan Binnington robbing Marchessault from in close about a minute later. At 9:48, Tomas Nosek scored his first goal since the season opener to give the VGK a 3-1 lead. At 6:24, Vladimir Tarasenko gave the Blues their second goal of the game, capitalizing on a loose puck in front of the St. Louis net.

The third period was definitely an eventful one that made for a very entertaining Friday night hockey game.

With 16:31 remaining Alec Martinez took a tripping penalty to give the Blues their second powerplay of the night. St. Louis took advantage of Zach Sanford’s mistake buried a rebound to tie the game 3-3. Vegas was awarded another chance with the extra man shortly after but could not convert as Max Pacioretty’s one-timer was denied by Binnington. After the ten-minute mark, Dylan Coghlan took a tripping penalty to put the potent St. Louis Blues powerplay unit back on the ice. At the 9:20 mark, ex-Knight David Perron gave his team the lead scoring a goal after receiving Brayden Schenn’s pass.

The Blues scored three straight goals after being down 3-1, and it looked like the momentum swing might continue in their favor. But Alec Martinez had other plans as he tied the game up shortly after as he pinched up into the Blues zone and buried a rebound past Binnington in a play that looked much like his Stanley Cup-winning goal from 2014. The rest of the period played out with neither team scoring, and the game went to overtime, where the Knights were 4-0 so far this season. A minute into extra time Torey Krug took a tripping penalty and gave the Knights a shot at a 4 on 3 powerplay opportunity. The VGK cashed in on the opportunity as Reilly Smith clutched up and scored the game-winning goal after receiving an outstanding pass from Jonathan Marchessault.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play Saturday evening taking on the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center. The puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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