Vegas Golden Knights: Stephenson the hero in breathtaking comeback win

Notes & stats from the game

This was the Vegas Golden Knights Lineup to start the game:

Tuch-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stephenson-Stone
Carrier-Stastny-Glass
Nosek-Roy-Reaves

McNabb-Schmidt
Holden-Theodore
Hague-Engelland

Fleury

Here are some key stats from the game:

• SOG – STL: 31 – VGK: 33
• FO% – STL: 63% – VGK: 37%
• PP – STL: 2/3 – VGK: 0/2
• PIM – STL: 10 – VGK: 12
• HITS – STL: 29 – VGK: 37
• BLKS – STL: 19 – VGK: 10
• GVA – STL: 2 – VGK: 6

And here is the Official Scoring Summary from the game:

• Alex Pietrangelo (12) – PPG – Perron (25), O’Reilly (28) – 7:05 / 1st
• Jaden Schwartz (14) – Perron (26), O’Reilly (29) – 12:41 / 1st
• Oskar Sundqvist (10) – Barbashev (11), Steen (7) – 16:16 / 1st
• Ryan Reaves (5) – Unassisted – 13:10 / 2nd
• Paul Stastny (11) – Carrier (8), Hague (8) – 15:32 / 2nd
• Nicolas Roy (2) – Hague (9), Nosek (4) – 3:02 / 3rd
• Reilly Smith (16) – Stephenson (5) – 9:50 / 3rd
• David Perron (17) – PPG – Pietrangelo (23), O’Reilly (30) – 12:50 / 3rd
• Chandler Stephenson (8) – Unassisted – 3:01 / OT

Let’s delve into notes from the game:

• The Vegas Golden Knights are now 24-15-16 on the year and 14-7-3 at T-Mobile Arena after beating the St. Louis Blues.
• It was one hell of a comeback by the Golden Knights who showed a hell of a lot of fight against what is an elite St. Louis team.
• Could this be a turning point? Possibly. I mean, the Golden Knights were already on a roll having won three straight prior to Saturday, but this win and the manner of it is going to fill the room with a lot of confidence.
• There was two clear turning points in the game for me. Firstly, the scrum that sent a plethora of players seemed to spark the Knights into life, while Nick Holden’s big play to clear the puck off the line was also huge. If that had gone in, then I think that would have been game over.
• These are the kind of wins that can really provide the springboard for bigger and better things and, with three games left on this homestand, the Golden Knights have the opportunity to go on a sustained run now and really strengthen their grip on the Pacific Division.
• The only negative for the Golden Knights was Cody Glass’ injury. The rookie went down in the second period and all signs point to it being a serious knee injury. Let’s hope that it isn’t but it certainly didn’t look good for Glass, who had to be helped off the ice.
• Chandler Stephenson made a huge play to strip Robert Thomas off the puck before going on a breakaway and scoring the winner in overtime. It wasn’t the only big play Stephenson made, either, with the forward blocking a pass that led to Reilly Smith getting on the board in the third period.
• Speaking of Smith, the forward recorded his 16th goal of the year and he is now on 34 points this year.
• Ryan Reaves tallied his fifth goal of the year while Paul Stastny continued to impress on the third line, recording his 11th goal of the season.
• It was a big night for rookie defenseman Nic Hague, who produced arguably his best performance of the year with two assists, including the primary helper on Nicolas Roy’s 2nd goal of the year.
• Is William Carrier more than a bottom six grinder? I think the time has come to start having that discussion. After producing a sublime play early in the first period, the forward showed his creativity and vision by sending a stunning dish over to Paul Stastny to get on the board in the second period.
• Tomas Nosek was back in the lineup following the bird of his child and the forward celebrated by claiming a secondary helper on Nicolas Roy’s goal.
• Speaking of Roy, the forward stayed in the lineup with Jon Merrill a healthy scratch, and it was the right decision given that Roy is a big body, which is needed against a team in the ilk of St. Louis.
• David Perron has been red hot for the Blues so far this year but the former Vegas Golden Knights player had failed to record a point in four outings against his old team. However, that changed on Saturday as Perron wreaked havoc at T-Mobile Arena with three points, including two primary assists.
• Alex Pietrangelo, who will be a UFA in the summer and we’ve said many times should be pursued by the Knights, also had a big night with two power play points.
• Vegas outshot the Blues 33-31 but were completely outclassed in the faceoff circle, winning just 37% of their draws.
• The Golden Knights went 0/2 on the power play and their man advantage unit currently ranks 9th in the NHL (22.2).
• They allowed two power play goals on three attempts with their penalty kill now ranked 14th in the league (81.0).
• It was a physical game as you would expect given that both teams boast some big bodies, and the Knights outhit the Blues 37-29.
• The Blues had more blocked shots (19-10) while the Knights had more Giveaways (6-2).
• Nate Schmidt led all Vegas Golden Knights skaters in total ice time with 22:47, with Shea Theodore just behind him with 22:41.