St. Louis Blues left wing Pavel Buchnevich (89) scores past Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Logan Thompson (36) during overtime of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Monday, Dec. 4, 2023.
Published Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 | 9:38 p.m.
Updated Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 | 11:06 p.m.
The Golden Knights did nearly everything right. They dominated the shot total, had many dangerous chances near the net and even found a way to earn a point when it didn’t seem possible for 50-plus minutes.
There are some nights teams just chalk it up to a hot goalie. That’s what Jordan Binnington was for the St. Louis Blues.
Vegas rallied in the third period to force overtime, but Pavel Buchnevich’s goal 38 seconds into the extra frame handed the Golden Knights a 2-1 loss to the Blues at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.
Despite the loss, the Golden Knights (16-5-5) earned a point for the fifth straight game, earning seven of a possible 10 points after losing the previous three games. Much like the last two games, both 4-1 wins over Vancouver and Washington, the Golden Knights felt there were positives to take from this game before the teams meet again Wednesday in St. Louis (6 p.m., Vegas 34).
The Golden Knights played well enough in the first period to put at least three goals on Binnington. They had a 20-6 edge in high-danger chances at 5-on-5, including eight in the first period.
But the Stanley Cup-winning goalie was there to stop all of them, including two breakaways — on Ivan Barbashev 1:42 into the game, then on Paul Cotter with a reaching glove save while the forward went forehand to backhand and had an open net.
Binnington’s heroics allowed the Blues to score the game’s first goal with 20 seconds left in the period. Alexey Toropchenko deflected a Colton Parayko shot that trickled by Logan Thompson for a 1-0 lead.
“I thought we played well,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “Had a lot of chances, but we didn’t finish.”
Opposite of Binnington, it was a strong effort from Thompson as he made his second straight start while Adin Hill remains out with a lower-body injury. Thompson made 25 saves, and while not at the volume that Binnington saw, he made the necessary saves to keep the Golden Knights in it.
It took until late in the third period to get to that point, but when the time arose, Jack Eichel left his mark yet again. Eichel scored for the third straight game, on the power play at 12:58 of the third, when he let a shot go from the top of the right circle and beat Binnington to tie it 1-1.
In the midst of the Golden Knights regaining their form and banking points, Eichel has been the hot hand with eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last three games.
Eichel echoed McNabb’s thoughts that there was a lot to like, but Binnington was worthy of the credit.
“He made a ton of saves,” Eichel said. “Give their goalie credit. He’s an elite goaltender, and he made a ton of big saves on us. We couldn’t find a way to get one by him, but I thought there were a lot of positives in our game.”
Those positives stemmed from Eichel’s goal on the man advantage after the Golden Knights’ previous two attempts weren’t at their best. Getting to the net and creating dangerous chances, on top of how they defended the Blues’ rush attack, was worthy enough for a win in coach Bruce Cassidy’s mind.
“All in all, pretty good game, well enough to win for sure,” Cassidy said. “We’ve seen a bit of this movie the last month with goaltenders playing really well against us where we didn’t get points, so at least we got a point in this one.”
The Golden Knights’ defense, especially, has been strong in the last three games, with only three regulation goals allowed. Thompson settled in and kept the game in range before Buchnevich’s short-side tally in the extra frame.
Expectations are the goaltender matchup will be the same Wednesday when the teams meet for the second leg of the home-and-home series. It’s also the Golden Knights’ dads trip for this two-game Central road trip; Vegas will play at Dallas on Saturday.
Having the fathers in the building might be some extra motivation to get a road win. That might be obtainable should the Golden Knights play the same way they did Monday.
“Both teams are going to be familiar with each other,” Eichel said. “Good chance for us to go there and capitalize on some of the opportunities we had.”
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
