Recap: Vegas trailed early when former Golden Knight David Perron scored on St. Louis’ first shot of the game. Things settled down and Vegas’ offense warmed up outshooting St. Louis 13-4. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was outstanding and robbed the Golden Knights multiple times. After 20 minutes St. Louis held a 1-0 edge.
Both offenses got hot in the second period. The Golden Knights stole the lead from the Blues scoring three straight goals. Shea Theodore added the first, and Alex Tuch scored the tying and go-ahead goals. Vegas couldn’t hold the 3-2 lead for long as St. Louis put two pucks passed Marc-Andre Fleury in a span of :21 seconds. After the first two periods, the Golden Knights trailed 4-3.
Zach Whitecloud tied the game 4-4 early, and Mark Stone put Vegas ahead late in final period. It was third lead change of the game giving Vegas the 5-4 advantage. Theodore gave his club a two-goal edge with his second of the game. The Golden Knights would go on to win a wild game 6-4.
Vegas remains undefeated in round-robin games and are tied with Colorado with four points. They’ll have one more game to fight for the #1 seed on Saturday night against the Avalanche. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: The game started at a snail’s pace until a turnover in the VGK end led directly to a Perron goal (that Fleury probably should have stopped). Then the Golden Knights got going but couldn’t beat Binnington in the 1st. They did find a way in the 2nd completely owning the game in order to score three straight. But, a few more turnovers and another one Fleury could have stopped and the Golden Knights found themselves behind after two. In the 3rd, the Golden Knights took over and dominated about as much as any team can in a single hockey period. They controlled play from start to finish, scoring seemingly at will and snuffing out all STL offense. An incredibly great period that paved the way to a guaranteed top-two position in the round-robin. (Analysis by Ken)
Upcoming stories from the Vegas Golden Knights vs St. Louis Blues at Rogers Place in the NHL Bubble.
- VGK keep getting better
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Reilly Smith
** Shea Theodore
* Alex Tuch
1st Place in the Round-Robin
Perfect since the Pause
Undefeated since March 6th
Missing their best scorerI think this team is good. #WontStopVegas pic.twitter.com/kLajWf8XUF
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) August 7, 2020
The Golden Knights have now defeated every NHL team in regulation.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) August 7, 2020
For the first time ever in a game between VGK and STL, the Golden Knights are unequivocally the better team. They've been dominant this entire period.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) August 7, 2020
Forecheck, forecheck, forecheck!
Absolutely swallowed that exit from the Blues and Stone finds himself in the perfect spot.
VGK lead again!!! #WontStopVegas
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) August 7, 2020
Let's talk about another round-robin comeback winner. https://t.co/7MAbitEzii
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) August 7, 2020
Doktor Hockey
A great offensive effort and even defense despite a number of mistakes. Flower was just not good. Unless Panda falls apart on Saturday, then he WILL be the starter when POs start!
Tim
Obviously we played a good overall game. A couple of turnovers in the defensive zone cost us but we over came that and some bad goaltending from Flower. Lehner starts against Colorado and if he has a good game I’m sure the job is his. We all love Flower and he’s still a good goaltender but not good enough for a playoff run.
Hdbiker7851
Flower gets the win but Bottom. Line it sure wasn’t his doing. He seems to struggle when facing limited shots which l guess is understandable but scary – first shot goal one and it didn’t improve. Fortunately the team in general stepped up to the challenge