Jake Neighbours and Brayden Schenn scored in the shootout as the St. Louis Blues held off a furious late rally by the Vegas Golden Knights to secure a 5-4 victory on Monday night.
The Golden Knights erased a two-goal deficit late in the third period, with Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev scoring within the final four minutes. Dorofeyev’s game-tying goal came with an extra attacker on the ice just 30 seconds before the end of regulation.
Schenn, Neighbours, Nathan Walker, and Cam Fowler found the back of the net for St. Louis in regulation. Jordan Binnington recorded 28 saves for the Blues, who climbed within one point of the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. St. Louis is now tied with Vancouver at 50 points in the playoff race.
Tomas Hertl and Brett Howden each tallied a goal for the Golden Knights, and Shea Theodore assisted on all four Vegas goals. Adin Hill made 24 saves for Vegas, which has now lost six of its last seven games but remains one point ahead of Edmonton in the Pacific Division standings.
Takeaways
Blues: St. Louis has been on an offensive tear, leading the NHL with 51 goals since December 23. Their scoring average of 3.92 goals per game during that span is the best in the league.
Golden Knights: Tomas Hertl continues to produce, scoring his ninth power-play goal of the season. He now has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his last six games.
Key Moment
Trailing 4-3, the Golden Knights pulled Hill for an extra attacker. A pinpoint pass from Shea Theodore set up Dorofeyev for a one-timer that beat Binnington and sent the game into overtime.
Key Stat
Nine of the 15 games between the Golden Knights and Blues in Las Vegas have gone beyond regulation, including three shootouts. Vegas had won six of the first eight games that went past regulation before Monday’s defeat.
Up Next
The Blues and Golden Knights will conclude their home-and-home series in St. Louis on Thursday night.