Vegas Golden Knights lock up No.2 seed after beating the Blues

Zach Whitecloud #2 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the Third period in a Western Conference Round Robin game. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Zach Whitecloud #2 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the Third period in a Western Conference Round Robin game. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
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Zach Whitecloud #2 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the Third period in a Western Conference Round Robin game.
Zach Whitecloud #2 of the Vegas Golden Knights is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the Third period in a Western Conference Round Robin game. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

It can only go up from here for the Vegas Golden Knights.

As they did against the Dallas Stars on Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights overturned a deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 and guarantee themselves at least the No.2 seed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It wasn’t the best start for the Golden Knights, however, who had to rally after David Perron lit the lamp early in the first period before Colton Parayko did the same in the second.

But rally the Knights did and they scored three unanswered goals thanks to Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch who went back-to-back.

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However, as is normally the case between these two teams, things continued to get wild in a frantic third period.

After Parayko and Troy Brouwer had made it 4-3 to St. Louis at the end of the middle frame, the Golden Knights did what they did against the Stars just days before.

They came out fighting in the third and Zach Whitecloud‘s first postseason goal made it a tied game at 2:01.

It was then over to two of Vegas’ best players to finish the job with Mark Stone and Shea Theodore both lighting the lamp to make it two wins out of two in the round-robin games.

Let’s delve a bit deeper…

First Period

Marc-Andre Fleury got the start in goal but he was forced to face an early storm as the Blues got on the board first.

Former Golden Knight David Perron lit the lamp with 4:02 on the board, collecting a pass in the high slot before beating Fleury with a snap shot.

It was a bad turnover by Nate Schmidt and it was also one Fleury would want back after being beat on his 5-hole.

Alec Martinez hit a post with a shot and Jordan Binnington was fantastic for the Blues, stopping all 13 shots he faced in the first period including a sublime save to absolutely rob Chandler Stephenson.

Second Period

The Golden Knights had done a good job of cycling the puck in the St. Louis zone in the early stages of the middle frame, but another defensive turnover cost them big time.

Stephenson failed to clear the puck out of the zone and the result was Colton Parayko getting the puck in front of the net and lifting a wrist shot over Fleury.

However, as was the case during the regular season, the Knights seem to thrive against the Blues when they have dug themselves into a hole, and that proved to be the case.

The comeback started after Fleury had denied Tyler Bozak with a spectacular shoulder save, with the Golden Knights going on the power play shortly after.

This PP can be dangerous when its operating at full tilt and that proved the case after Shea Theodore beat Jordan Binnington with a wicked wrist shot.

That changed the tide of the game as Alex Tuch put home a rebound to make it a tied game, before the forward quickly scored a second after going backhand to beat Binnington on the power play.

But, with Vegas seemingly in the driving seat, the momentum of the game shifted yet again in what was turning out to be a crazy second period.

Parayko took advantage of Fleury being out of position by swinging around the net and tucking home the puck on a wraparound.

Then, seconds later, veteran Troy Brouwer made it a 4-3 game after burying a one-timer from Tyler Bozak following a bad bounce.

Third Period

The game continued to be absolutely nuts in the final period and it was a tied game again at 2:01 thanks to defenseman Zach Whitecloud, who ripped home a one-timer from the top of the circle for his first Playoff goal.

Alec Martinez rung the puck off the crossbar before Jordan Binnington made an absolutely huge save to rob Reilly Smith on the power play.

Binnington couldn’t keep the Golden Knights at bay for long, however, and it was Mark Stone who delivered another huge moment.

Following good work from William Karlsson to put the pressure on and keep the puck in the zone, Brayden McNabb sent a centering feed into the perfect spot and Stone was able to put it home for the go-ahead goal.

And another star finished the game off at 14:49 when Shea Theodore beat Binnington with a long wrist shot from the point.

It was another impressive win for the Golden Knights who now can’t do any worse than a No.2 seed.

Let’s look at our Three Stars of the Game…