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A crowd of 7,000-plus were welcomed to “The Fortress” as the Vegas Golden Knights took down the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in OT behind center Jonathan Marchessault’s game winner.
Highlight reel saves from goalie Robin Lehner and defenseman Alec Martinez kept the Knights afloat despite a 3-1 lead from St. Louis.
“Tonight was a night we were a little flat as a group and they got better as the game went on,” Vegas coach Peter DeBoer told ESPN. “That’s what you need to win consistently. Your big guys are going to score, but they can’t score every single night for you.”
Vegas moves to 38-13-2 on the season and is perfect in OT. The win was number five for the Knights over St. Louis this season. The season series concludes tomorrow night once more at T-Mobile Arena.
Up next, the Knights will square off again against the Blues, who have a five-point lead (75-72) over the Arizona Coyotes for the fourth and final playoff spot in the West Division. Puck drop is Saturday, May 8, at 7:00 p.m.
The Knights were once again without its leading-scorer Max Pacioretty, so the offense had to be found from other unlikely contributors like Martinez, center Nicolas Roy, and forward Reilly Smith.
The three scored Vegas’ first three goals before Marchessault scored the game winner in OT on a beauty of a pass from the speedy Alex Tuch.
Tuch split two defenders with a pass to the cutting Marchessault, who faked St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington out for the goal.
In the other net, Lehner had a rough first two periods conceding three goals.
But in the final two periods including OT, Lehner stepped up and made some highlight reel saves including a save on a play where St. Louis had an open shot at point-blank range in the third period.
Following Lehner’s incredible tap save, Martinez followed up with a save of his own helping out his goaltender.
“You want to impose your will and play your game,” Martinez told ESPN. “I sound like a broken record, but you’ve got to play playoff hockey before you get to the playoffs.”