Alec Martinez netted two goals, and William Carrier contributed a goal and an assist, helping the Vegas Golden Knights cruise to a 6-1 victory over the struggling St. Louis Blues on Monday night.
Tomas Nosek, Jonathan Marchessault, and Nicolas Hague also scored for the Golden Knights, snapping a 0-2-1 skid and improving to 25-10-2, solidifying their second-place standing in the West Division. Vegas has now won its last four meetings against St. Louis.
After recent struggles, Vegas coach Pete DeBoer was pleased with his team’s bounce-back performance. “We talked about relaxing. We’re in a good spot,” DeBoer said. “We just needed to build on the good things and fix the areas we weren’t executing well. The group was committed, and they were rewarded for it.”
Tyler Bozak scored the lone goal for the Blues, while Robin Lehner made 31 saves for the Golden Knights.
“Robin has been crucial for us. When your goalies are playing this well, it frees the rest of us to make plays,” said Martinez, highlighting the strong performances from both Lehner and fellow goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Meanwhile, the Blues’ woes continue. They have extended their winless streak to 0-6-1 with only eight goals scored since March 22. St. Louis now sits in fifth place in the West Division, having fallen to 2-8-1 over their last 11 games.
“We’re not giving up. We’re trying to get it done every night, but it’s just not happening,” said Blues forward David Perron. “We believe in our group, but we’ve got to start finding results.”
Golden Knights Dominate Early
Vegas took control early with two first-period goals. Nosek opened the scoring at 6:25, redirecting a Nick Holden shot into the net for his first goal of the season. Martinez added to the lead with a wrist shot from inside the blue line at 12:45.
“We wanted to focus on creating opportunities and getting bodies in front of the goalie,” said Martinez. “It paid off.”
The Blues responded at 17:01 when Bozak connected on a pass from Zach Sanford to make it 2-1, but it was the only goal they would muster.
Vegas Explodes in the Second Period
The Golden Knights blew the game open in the second period, scoring four goals in quick succession. Martinez struck again with a one-timer at 7:08, followed by Carrier’s tip-in at 7:40. Just 32 seconds later, Marchessault added a wrist shot to make it 5-1.
Rookie goalie Ville Husso was pulled after facing 19 shots, with Jordan Binnington taking over in the net for the Blues. Hague rounded out Vegas’ scoring at 13:00 with a wrist shot past Binnington.
“It was a great performance tonight. We found the lanes and created good chances,” Marchessault said. “This should be a positive for us moving forward.”
Blues coach Craig Berube lamented the defensive breakdowns that led to the second-period surge. “Soft plays, poor coverage. We just didn’t make the stops when we needed them,” Berube said.
Pietrangelo Honored in Return
The Blues honored former captain Alex Pietrangelo with a video tribute and a standing ovation. Pietrangelo, a key player on St. Louis’ 2019 Stanley Cup-winning team, was making his first appearance in St. Louis as a member of the Golden Knights after signing with them last October. He missed the earlier games in St. Louis in March due to injury.
“It was a little different coming in on the opposite side this time, but it’s just business as usual out there,” Pietrangelo said.
Injuries and Roster Moves
The Blues activated defenseman Colton Parayko from injured reserve after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. They also assigned forward Jacob de la Rose to the taxi squad after he cleared waivers.
For Vegas, forward Ryan Reaves (lower body) has missed four games, while defenseman Zach Whitecloud (upper body) has been out for three. Reaves traveled with the team to St. Louis, but Whitecloud did not.
Up Next
- The Golden Knights and Blues face off again on Wednesday night in St. Louis.