Recap: The Golden Knights hosted the St. Louis Blues for back-to-back games at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas got on the scoreboard first when Reilly Smith notched his 11th goal of the season. Later in the period the Blues tied the game with a shorthanded goal. After the opening 20 minutes the game was locked 1-1.
St. Louis took charge in the 2nd period scoring two unanswered goals. Vegas got a massive momentum shift from Alec Martinez :09 seconds left in the period. Martinez got his team within one with his 9th goal of 2021.
Trailing 3-2 the Golden Knights picked up the pace in the final frame. Nic Roy tied the game battling in front of St. Louis’ net and rifling a shot past Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. The Golden Knights had to settle the game in overtime in consecutive games.
Vegas’ record improves to 38-13-2 after their 4-3 overtime victory against St. Louis. The Golden Knights and Blues finish off their back-to-back tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM PT. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: Unlike the last few games, the Golden Knights were in comeback mode falling behind due to a couple tough goals on Lehner. They did well to fight through and tie it but the majority of the best chances down the stretch were STLs. As for OT, they might as well rename it Vegastime. (Analysis by Ken)
Upcoming stories from the Vegas Golden Knights vs St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena
- The article Jason wrote that should have published today. A Friday without an article? What the heck? Who runs this website?
- Brandon’s first photo gallery of the season!
- Forecheck awareness against STL
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Jonathan Marchessault
** Nic Hague
* Reilly Smith
After a couple tough ones in regulation, Robin Lehner saves the day in OT. He was brilliant.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 8, 2021
These two teams play great hockey games. Not for the faint of heart though.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 8, 2021
7,567 is the attendance at T-Mobile Arena tonight. The most attended game in the NHL this season.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 8, 2021
Holy Santa Claus! A rebound goal in front of the net!!!
Don't think, turn and fire. Sweet shot by Nic Roy to tie it up.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 8, 2021
George L.
Looks like Fluery is the Playoff starter. Lehner is a good goalie, but something is up with his game. He’s allowed too many sloppy seconds.
George L.
Just watched Lehner’s media availability and I absolutely love his honesty. Sounds like he understands the mistakes. Breath of fresh air.
Carl
Max is out yes, but even with him this team cannot beat Colorado, Washington, Tampa. And would be iffy against Carolina, Boston, Florida. Toronto, and probably even Edmonton.
Justin
Huh? Why on earth would you say that? They’ve already beaten Colorado and play them very tight. Assuming that can’t beat anyone else on your list as a statement of fact makes you sound like a total tool. They can beat any team in the league if they play their best, and won’t be an easy out for anyone.
Pistol Pete
Justin, do yourself a favor and don’t waste time with a basher. Wherever there’s an internet message board there will be some to be found.
DOC (Go Knights Go)
Agree!
Jason S.
I’ve watched every single Washington Capitals game this season. The Caps, old and slow, don’t have much of a chance against this Vegas team.
knights fan in minny
carl you can always watch corn hole on espn
THE hockey GOD
“Max is out yes, but even with him this team cannot beat Colorado, Washington, Tampa. And would be iffy against Carolina, Boston, Florida. Toronto, and probably even Edmonton.”
I disagree. Have you watched any games this year ??
Daryl
Yes VGK a COL team that was half full but if they play well and MAF is on his game I do think VGK has a chance against them. I do agree with you in that I don’t think they can beat the top teams from other divisions
Justin
Gritty win again, go knights!
Atrocious game for Robin Lehner… again. 3 goals so soft he could be called Dairy Queen, cuz he serves up lots of softies. It’s actually getting scary as the knights literally are spotting the other team 2-3 goals every game, very low chance of winning this way. If Lehner plays against Colorado it could be very ugly, and 1st place seeding very well might come down to that game. He is letting in goals a bad ahl goalie wouldn’t let in.
Good guy, very honest but whatever he is struggling with is putting the team’s success in jeapardy. It’s time to pick a starting goalie and run with him from here on out. Lehner can get his mojo black next season, now is not the time to be trying to build his confidence at the team’s expense. He is a professional and can handle being number 2 going forward.
Pistol Pete
Not sure how management assesses the performance of Lehner. If Fleury starts Monday vs. the Avs after playing tomorrow that will put Fleury in the “starter” role for the time being. Monday could well decide the division winner so it’s an important start for the goaltender.
Howard
Well, he did do well in the 3rd and overtime but agree, I cannot picture, “Robin Lehner, Stanley Cup winning goalie.” With MAF, well, he’s a 3 time winner, so can picture that!
Lehner gave up several soft goals against Dallas in a really tight defensive series that could have gone 4-1 the other way. Go back and look at the soft goals he allowed there. Lehner is a decent goalie, but he’s actually a REALLY OVER PAID BACK UP.
There’s a reason no other team in the league would sign him to term, but I guess VGK is “woke” or something like that so…
Julie
Martinez stood out in last night’s game for me. A goal but also how he served as a backup goalie preventing a wrap around goal while Lehner was on the other side of the net. Martinez is always the last one off the ice in between periods and just has a great presence about him when doing the interviews. Hague gave a great pass to Smith for his goal. He sounded confident in his interview after that brawl he had with the Wild guy as well he should. He has come a ways since I saw him in a game against Arizona back in Oct a couple of years ago. It seemed there were a lot of chances for both teams last night. Marchessault seems to do well in these pressure situations.
Justin
I couldn’t agree more Julie. Martinez was awesome last night, and has been so good this entire year. It’s been pretty obvious that he’s probably been the best, or perhaps one of the top 2or 3 VGK defensemen this season. Loved when he jumped in and played goalie a few times when Lehner fell down and seemingly takes ages to get back up.
Andd his leadership is obvious. The guy is a scrappy battler, always in the play. If we didn’t know any better we might assume that he is the $9mil a year defenseman and the other is the $4mil a year defenseman on many nights.
He is in the last year of his contract I believe and it’s definitely time to start wishing and hoping VGK re-signs this extremely valuable asset.
THE hockey GOD
No. 23 is awesome defender Julie, he is de facto Capt. of this team. He is always last off the ice.
His SC winning attitude is a big plus for young D corps. I really like the way he plays the game and shuts off people along the boards, blocks shots, and he can score too !!
DOC (magic # 5 pts)!
These boys just don’t quit!
Shaky Panda, comes back big in 3rd & OT!
Big, big, BIG 2 points!
Hey real fans, just ignore the negative comments. Stay positive behind our guys and they will reward us!
DOC (Go Knights Go)
These boys never quit!
Tuff 2 periods for Panda, BUT, he came back BIG in 3rd & OT!
Our magic number down to 5 points (w/victory over Avs).
Stay positive real fans. Ignore the negative comments.
Mark
I agree Lehner gave up 2 soft goals, but didn’t he rock in OT, 2 or 3 breakaways were shut down, so, he redeemed himself. Krebs looked amazing, his passing skills are amazing, his time is now ! Gutsy win against a surging team!!
THE hockey GOD
krebs falls down too much, taking himself out of play- not good, needs to correct that problem and he’s a tad slow off the release. Both of which are correctable.
sb
Agreed. Don’t get to far ahead with Krebs. He’s got a long, long way to go. Like Glass, homers are way too optimistic. I still see a very, very young guy who is trying to figure out where to be in the play.
LVsc
great comeback win, but it also showed the flaws too.
the PP continues to hurt the Knights and lift their opponents. it was that shorthanded goal, started by a bad giveaway along the boards by Janmark, that changed the momentum at the end of the 1st period.
and Lehner was atrocious on the last 2 Blues goals, and then he started to redeem himself in the 3rd and OT
it is easy to see his technique problems. he does a modified butterfly, with only one knee down and one up, that leaves a gaping 5 hole that the opponents just drive a truck thru, both in Minn and last night.
also, he is a nervous wreck, as he showed in the interview afterward
Kudos to Martinez for a great game, and good job by Krebs, and great OT setup pass by Tuch 2 games in a row.
LVsc
also, good to see the young guys stepping up when needed most….case in point= Hague, Roy, Krebs, etc
DOC (magic # 5 pts)!
Yes, we have faults ….. but every team does.
I just don’t understand, after a big, important win ….. WHY all the negativity, constantly.
The naysayers keep saying, we can’t do this, can’t beat them, but we just continue to prove them wrong.
REJOYCE oh real fans. The Knights ARE coming!!!!!!!!!
Ken Boehlke
What’s Tampa’s fault?
LVsc
weak backup goalie Ken.
Vasilevsky= 31-8-1 2.10 .928
McIlhinney= 4-6-2 3.09 .875
they obviously will ride Vasi
sb
Tampa’s only fault is the reality and restrictions of the salary cap.
Ken Boehlke
Which they basically cheated the entire season by holding out Kucherov.
sb
Because they’re looking at the cracks. PP. D-Man caught up ice. Too many odd man rushes. Can’t win PP faceoffs. Struggle to get the puck off the boards in O-zone. All these things get magnified in the Playoffs playing against all wining teams. Failure to produce on the PP is an absolute sinker in the Playoffs. Think back: Drubbed by Washington, collapse against SJ, stifled by Dallas. All these cracks sink the boat.
Mike StG
sb, probably time to stop harping on the PP. In the last 11 games (20% of this 56 game season) Vegas PP is 9-36 (25%) and 4 of those games were without leading goal scorer (Patch). Plus their last 7 games were against playoff teams or contenders – ARI, COL, MIN, STL. Highest season PP % this year in NHL are currently EDM @ 29.5%, and BOS @ 25.2%. STL is slightly less than 25%. Vegas’ PP is no longer an issue with adjustments they’ve made and clearly have improved to the top 3 or 4 best. Their 5v5 play is at the top of the league, as is their PK. Your citing of history does not apply. This is a different team from prior years (both players and coaches), plus your references don’t necessarily correlate with your claims.