St. Louis Blues vs. Vegas Golden Knights Pick & Prediction JANUARY 20th 2025
Preview and Prediction
In the midst of their most challenging losing streak of the season, the Vegas Golden Knights will be hosting the St. Louis Blues in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee on Monday in Las Vegas.
This will be the first game of a two-game series between the two teams, with the second game taking place on Thursday in St. Louis.
Currently tied with the Edmonton Oilers for first place in the Pacific Division with 61 points, Vegas has suffered three consecutive losses, matching their longest losing streak of the season. In fact, the Golden Knights have only won one out of their last six games, making it their worst six-game performance in 46 games played.
See also:
"3-Game Suspension for Oilers' C Connor McDavid and Canucks' D Tyler Myers"
See also:
Injury Update: Maple Leafs' Max Pacioretty (upper body) to Miss Game Against Lightning
"It's definitely not an ideal situation," stated team captain Mark Stone after their 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, which marked the end of their 0-3 road trip. "The positive aspect is that it's not due to anything the other team is doing. It's preventable mistakes made by us."
The defeat against the Blackhawks, who currently have the lowest number of points in the NHL, could arguably be considered the lowest point of the season for Vegas. Prior to that, they also suffered a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
"A little bit of adversity can be beneficial at this time of the year, but it's only beneficial if you work your way out of it," Stone added. "We need to go back home, regroup, and come up with a plan to fight and find a way to win our next game."
Throughout their road trip, Vegas found themselves constantly playing catch-up. They fell behind 4-0 to Nashville and trailed 3-1 to Chicago after the Blackhawks scored three goals in just 3 minutes and 42 seconds towards the end of the first period.
"This is definitely a problem for us right now," admitted Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. "During our rough patches, we're not able to contain the damage and put out the fires. We were much better at that earlier in the season."
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues had their two-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Currently sitting in fifth place in the Central Division and three points behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Blues have yet to win three consecutive games this season.
See also:
NHL Recap: Patrik Laine Leads Canadiens to Overtime Victory Against Rangers
See also:
'Possible Suspensions for Oilers' Connor McDavid and Canucks' Tyler Myers'
In their loss to the Jazz, St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery raised some eyebrows when he benched his top line of Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jake Neighbours for the last half of the opening period after Utah took a 3-1 lead with three goals in just 4 and a half minutes.
"They were minus-2," Montgomery explained. "I chose to go with players who I felt were putting in the effort to get the job done."
When asked about being benched, Thomas responded, "Our line can't afford to get scored on. It's as simple as that. We need to be better and more consistent, regardless of who is on the ice. That's the message (Montgomery) sent. We allowed two goals, so we didn't deserve to be out there."
Now, the Blues will be looking to bounce back against a Golden Knights team that has an impressive record of 23-5-2 against Western Conference opponents.
"We have a tough schedule coming up," Thomas acknowledged. "We're playing them twice in a row, at home and away, so it's a big test for us. They're obviously a great team, and we need to find a way to start winning games."
Monday's game will mark the second time these two teams have met this season. In their first encounter on October 11th, Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist as Vegas came out on top with a 4-3 victory in Las Vegas.
St. Louis Blues vs. Vegas Golden Knights Recap OCT 11TH 2024
The forward line of Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone combined for six points as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Friday in Las Vegas.
Eichel and Barbashev each had a goal and an assist and Stone had two assists for the Golden Knights, who have won their first two games of the season.
Shea Theodore also had a goal and an assist for Vegas, Nicolas Roy added a goal and Adin Hill made 19 saves.
Pavel Buchnevich had two goals and an assist for the Blues, who finished 2-1-0 on their season-opening road trip. Jordan Kyrou logged two assists and Jordan Binnington made 24 saves.
St. Louis sustained early pressure and struck first. Buchnevich took a pass from Kyrou and burst in on the left wing to convert a backhand shot for a 1-0 lead 6:47 into the game.
However, the Golden Knights got a big response from their top line. Eichel broke down the middle, took a pass from Barbashev and beat Binnington with a backhand move to tie the score just 1:15 later.
Vegas was dangerous on its first power play, but Stone and Alexander Holtz hit the post with shots as the score remained tied 1-1.
Barbashev put the Golden Knights up 2-1 with 1:47 left in the first period by driving to the net and chipping in Stone's pass from the right side of the net.
Theodore hammered a follow shot from atop the left circle past Binnington 2:55 into the second period to increase the Vegas lead to 3-1.
Buchnevich scored a power-play goal, finishing a tic-tac-toe passing play with Kyrou and Justin Faulk, to cut the Blues' deficit to 3-2 at 7:29 of the second period.
Roy's deflection of Theodore's shot from the left point increased the Vegas lead to 4-2 at 12:53 of the third period.
Thomas answered with a breakaway goal from Buchnevich's pass with 4:56 left.
The Blues pulled Binnington for the extra attacker but failed to tie the score with their final flurry.