Jack Eichel made his triumphant return for the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. They desperately needed any returning players that they could get, especially after losing Brayden McNabb on a week-to-week basis. Would Vegas be able to capitalize on their superstar's return against a lowly St. Louis Blues team?
No.
The St. Louis Blues shocked the Golden Knights on Friday afternoon, 4-3. Goals by Oskar Sundqvist, Alexey Torpochenko, and Justin Faulk helped the Blues win. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights got goals from Keegan Kolesar (his first of the season!), Mark Stone, and Pavel Dorofeyev. Yes, there were no Eichel points upon his return, which was as bad as 2025 was. Brayden Schenn snatched a point away from Vegas with a goal with 1:33 left, giving St. Louis two in the process as the stinky cherry on top.
This was a game where a penalty shot happened (again). This time, it came from Jordan Kyrou, who was stopped by Carter Hart's glove. It also saw another blown lead (more on that later) that saw Vegas unravel after getting said lead. You can say that the game had a little bit of everything.
Let's air the grievances of the night and see where it all went wrong for Vegas. Seven losses in their last eight games isn't a good mark, especially when you get your biggest superstar back in Jack Eichel. Let's continue the Festivus period and tell the Golden Knights what problems we have with the team.
The Golden Knights must do better at holding onto leads
Keegan Kolesar gets a pass from Colton Sissons and scores a goal. The vibes are good as Vegas has a 1-0 lead in St. Louis. Surely, those vibes would continue for Vegas as they start the Dad's Trip, right?
Well...
The drive & finish by Toropchenko seems to be the effort that Montgomery continues to talk about. A gritty goal. pic.twitter.com/O1yZrQfGv5
— Jacob Cersosimo (@JacobCersosimo) January 2, 2026
A drive and finish, capped off by a deflection, puts the St. Louis Blues on the board. Of course, this started in the offensive zone, where Jaycob Megna threw up an errant pass that led to St. Louis going into transition. The result? A tie game.
That has been the theme for the Golden Knights in the past week. They've watched leads against the Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators squandered, leading to missed points. While the Golden Knights are still comfortable in the playoff race, all those missed points and squandered leads add up.
Therefore, the Golden Knights must figure out how to hold onto said leads better. That means no more Mitch Marner tripping penalties and errant passes that result in odd-man rushes. If Vegas does that in the playoffs? Well, let's just say that it'll be another early exit.
Hockey fans notice how flat Jaycob Megna looked against the St. Louis Blues on Friday
Speaking of Megna, he was expected to be a Great Value version of Nicolas Hague against St. Louis. The big defenseman stands at 6'6" and weighs 220 lbs. He was a pure stay-at-home blue liner who wasn't going to put up many points. Surely, that would be good enough for Vegas in this game, right?
Aside from Megna's offensive zone giveaway that led to Torpochenko, the giant defenseman wasn't sticking with attackers as he should've. Instead, he looked lost on the ice and struggled to keep up with the Blues' attack.
That left Golden Knights fans to ask one glaring question:
I don't know where the giant is. Trust me.