Keegan Kolesar, a part of the Vegas Golden Knights’ first development camp in 2017, celebrated a major milestone on Monday night. Kolesar scored his first NHL goal, and Mark Stone netted two as the Golden Knights cruised to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
The 23-year-old rookie found the back of the net on his 21st shot of the season, burying a rebound after Jordan Binnington blocked a point shot by Nic Hague. Kolesar’s goal sent the crowd of 3,750 and his teammates into celebration.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Kolesar said. “I think my reaction and the bench reaction says it all. They might have been more excited than I was.”
Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson also scored for Vegas, which improved to 4-0-0 in the second half of back-to-back games. The Golden Knights, fresh off having their five-game win streak snapped in Los Angeles, secured their fifth straight home win, improving to 13-2-1 at T-Mobile Arena.
“There’s a confidence and composure with this group,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. “We know what our game looks like when we’re playing well. When we’re off, the guys can return to that game quickly.”
Vince Dunn scored the lone goal for St. Louis, while Binnington made 30 saves. The Blues, playing their fourth road game in six days, couldn’t match the Golden Knights’ intensity.
“They wanted it more than we did,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “They won more puck battles, made more plays, skated better. That’s why they won.”
Marchessault scored by sneaking a shot under Binnington from a tough angle for his ninth-season goal. The Golden Knights, who have been dominant in the first period this season, continued that trend by allowing just five first-period goals in their last 20 games.
Dunn tied the game midway through the second period with a top-corner shot through traffic. However, the tie didn’t last long, as Stone’s centering pass bounced off Jaden Schwartz’s skate, and Stone collected the puck to fire it off Dunn’s shin pad and past Binnington.
Kolesar’s milestone goal in the third period broke the game open, and Karlsson and Stone added power-play goals to secure the 5-1 win.
“If you look at how we’ve been playing, we’ve been finding ways to win games,” Stone said. “Tonight, we played our fifth game in eight days with travel. We played smart and found our legs in the third period.”
Game Notes
Make-Up Game: This game was rescheduled for Jan. 28 due to COVID-19 protocols affecting Vegas’ Alex Pietrangelo, a coaching staff member.
Penalty Kill: Vegas’ penalty kill, ranked sixth in the league, was perfect, stopping St. Louis on both power-play chances.
Golden Misfits: Vegas’ original top line of Marchessault, Karlsson, and Reilly Smith has combined for 585 points as Golden Knights. Only six other trios have reached 600 points in their first four years with a franchise.
Milestones: Vegas’ Shea Theodore notched his 100th assist, while St. Louis’ Robert Bortuzzo is one game away from his 400th NHL appearance.
UP NEXT
- St. Louis: Closes out a five-game road trip in Minnesota on Thursday.
- Vegas: Opens a two-game series in Colorado on Thursday.
