Mark Stone's torrid season continues as Golden Knights down Blues

The Golden Knights’ Mark Stone has been an all-world NHL player since he became a regular in the league seven years ago.

There’s a case to be made that this is his best season yet.

Stone had a pair of goals Saturday at the Blues in Vegas’ 5-1 win, extending his point streak to seven games and giving him 31 points in 24 games. He’s on pace for more than 100 points, which would shatter his previous career high of 73 points in 2018-19.

“I think my success goes hand-in-hand with the team success,” Stone said. “When we’re winning games, everybody’s numbers get inflated. We’re playing really good hockey right now.”

Stone’s goal 1:32 into the third period put Vegas up 2-0, an important insurance tally considering Sammy Blais scored for the Blues about three minutes later. Max Pacioretty restored the Golden Knights’ two-goal lead at the 7:25 mark of the third. Stone scored his second of the game at the 12:09 mark, and Alex Tuch added an empty-netter with 30 seconds remaining.

The defense did the rest.

The Golden Knights had a massive penalty kill in the third period with a 3-1 lead, including 53 seconds of 5-on-3 time. The Blues came back in Friday’s game on the strength of their power play, but goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all seven shots, and finished the night perfect in four short-handed chances.

Fleury finished with 34 saves in starting 15 of Vegas’ last 16 games.

“I think a big key to that kill was our guys in front, our defenders who blocked a lot of shots and helped me out a lot in front of the net,” Fleury said. “Great teamwork to get it done.”

Defenseman Brayden McNabb played 9:47 of the third period and 6:51 of the final 12 minutes in fending off the Blues’ late surge. His efforts were especially strong on the decisive penalty kill.

“He’s a warrior,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “He’s like (Alec) Martinez. They sacrifice their bodies every night doing a lot of that work in our own net and in front of our own end and blocking shots in order to help us win. They don’t get a lot of headlines and accolades but a huge piece of our defensive effort back there and how we defend.”

The victory marked the Golden Knights fifth sweep of a two-game series this season and capped a season-long six-game road trip over nine days. They were evicted from their San Jose hotel, were shut out, had their goalie experience a false positive COVID-19 test, won their first-ever game in St. Louis and were swept for the first time this year.

And yet they won four of the six games and solidified their hold on the West Division. 

“It’s been a lot of hockey as of late, and as you mentioned all the road, and sometimes that can be difficult to get in a groove, especially in a year you’re forced to this year,” Pacioretty said. “But I thought we did a good job of giving whatever energy we had left in the tank and emptying it out there.

“Just a strong overall performance from our goaltender out, and that’s really the way our team has to win, is by using everybody, and it’s a lot of fun when we do win like that.”