Blues win 3-2 to snap Golden Knights’ 9-game win streak

By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues rallied to beat Vegas 3-2 on Saturday night, snapping the Golden Knights’ nine-game winning streak.

Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad also scored to help St. Louis get its second straight win after an eight-game skid. Jordan Binnington stopped 35 shots.

Trailing 2-1, St. Louis scored back-to-back goals late in the second period to take the lead. Barbashev tied it with less than 4 minutes remaining.

Just 40 seconds later, O’Reilly — skating in his 300th game with the Blues — got a pass in the bottom of the right circle from Josh Levio from behind the net and fired a one-timer to put St. Louis ahead.

“That’s a big one,” O’Reilly said. “Obviously a very good team over there. I thought we did some good things. We stuck with it again. They had the momentum at times but we just kept going.”

St. Louis has now scored eight goals in its last two games after averaging 1.5 goals per game in its previous nine.

Reilly Smith and Phil Kessel had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill had 25 saves while taking his first loss of the season after starting 5-0-0.

The Golden Knights were held to two or fewer goals for just the fifth time this season after outscoring their opponents 38-21 during their nine-game win streak.

“We probably didn’t deserve to win anyway, so back to the drawing board and try to start another streak,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said.

Saad opened the scoring at 9:47 of the first period, when he took a pass at the top of the circle, skated to the dot, and fired a wrist shot past Hill above his blocker.

The Golden Knights tied it nearly a minute later as Chandler Stephenson found a streaking Smith, who scored his eighth of the season. It was his NHL-leading third short-handed goal and his sixth goal over the last five games.

Vegas took the lead early in the second when Kessel broke free from the neutral zone with four Blues skaters surrounding him and blasted a shot from just inside the blue line to beat Binnington for his third at 2:43.

But the after-effects of a five-game road trip caught up with the Golden Knights, who became lax on defense while the Blues became the aggressors to control much of the play in their offensive zone.

“We were all flat. I think we were expecting to be flat,” Stone added.

The Golden Knights couldn’t capitalize in the third, despite outshooting St. Louis 22-5 in the period.

“I think we had a very, very strong first two periods and the boys made it pretty easy on me,” Binnington said. “I wasn’t happy with how my play personally was going so that third period was an opportunity to regroup and give the boys a chance to win and we did a great job of shutting things down.”

NOTES: Smith has 11 short-handed goals in six seasons with Vegas. … Kessel is two games away from skating in his 1,000th consecutive game. … Golden Knights points leader Jack Eichel, who scored a hat trick in Buffalo on Thursday, saw his seven-game point streak come to an end. Eichel remains one point shy from 400 in his career. … St. Louis was 0 for 4 on the power play. … In a twist from the traditional Dad’s trip, the Blues are hosting a Mom’s trip. Players’ moms will join the squad in Colorado for Monday’s game and will continue with the team in Chicago.

UP NEXT

Blues: At Colorado on Monday night.

Golden Knights: Host San Jose on Tuesday night.

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