Golden Knights end losing skid with 4-2 win against Blues

Mark Stone had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights picked up a 4-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The win ended a four-game losing streak for Vegas (30-14-4).

Victor Olofsson, Pavel Dorofeyev and Tomas Hertl all scored, while Ilya Samsonov made 15 saves in the winning effort.

“We just played as a team,” Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev said. “We were excited before the game and (felt) it’s enough and we’ve just got to be better as a team and that’s what we did today. Started with the first shift, big goal and just kept on playing hard.”

On-Time Start for Golden Knights

Starts have been an issue for the Golden Knights thus far this season.

The first period against the Blues proved that Vegas can start on time.

It took Stone 19 seconds into the first period to score – the tying Jonathan Marchessault for the fourth-fastest goal in the Golden Knights history.

“It was a fortunate kind of bounce,” Stone said. “I just tried to angle it and [Blues defenseman Cam Fowler] kind of shot it into my shin pads. Puck bounced into a good spot by him. You take those starts any time you can get them for sure.”

Olofsson extended it to 2-0, going bar down at 8:54 as the power play expired.

Hertl, Dorofeyev Stay Hot

Dorofeyev continued his career year, scoring on the power play at 6:30 of the second period. He has a career-high 21 goals this season to lead the team. Dorofeyev also has 10 points in the last six games (seven goals, three assists).

Only two players entered the contest with more goals than Dorofeyev in the same span: Boston’s David Pastrnak and Toronto’s Auston Matthews.

Hertl scored his fifth goal in four games with an empty-net goal at 19:33. He moved into second on the team with 17 goals, trailing behind Dorofeyev. Hertl has 11 points in the last seven games.

Karlsson Deemed ‘Week to Week’

Hours before the game, the Golden Knights deemed forward WIlliam Karlsson “week to week” with a lower-body injury. He was placed on injured reserve.

Vegas also placed Cole Schwindt on IR on Thursday.

In response, the Golden Knights recalled Tanner Laczynski and Brendan Brisson from the Henderson Silver Knights.