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Vegas captain Mark Stone delivered a two-goal performance in a 5-1 win over the West Division rival St. Louis Blues Monday, March 22 from the T-Mobile Arena.
Stone made it look easy on the ice as helped guide the Knights to its third straight win over the Blues this season.
The captain had two goals, the second of which was flashy as he smoothly redirected a shot from center William Karlsson past St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington.
“We had to play smart, and I thought we did a good job,” Stone told ESPN. “Third period, I thought we got our legs and pounded four lines out the door.”
Vegas moves to 22-7-1 on the season and sits atop the West Division Standings with 45 points.
The nearest trailer is Colorado Avalanche in second place with 43 points. Prior to losing to Arizona on Monday, they had won seven in a row and sits as the primary threat to Vegas in the standings.
The two teams will battle Thursday, March 25 in Colorado in a very important game that could be telling for playoff seeding. Puck drop is at 6:00 p.m.
The most impressive takeaway from the dominant showing against St. Louis was the revival of the power play goal. Vegas is one of the league’s bottom teams on converting on the power play.
They scored two power play goals in the third period courtesy of Karlsson and Stone, the two assisted on one another’s goals.
Adding to the scoring column for the first time this season was 23-year-old rookie Keegan Kolesar.
After cracking the rotation earlier in the season, his steady play was rewarded with his first NHL goal on a rebound.
Kolesar mentioned the moment was overdue post game.
Center Jonathan Marchessault scored his ninth goal of the season in the first period and added his 14th assist on Karlsson’s power play goal in the third.
The offense was impressive in the third period scoring four goals all without left-wing Max Pacioretty, who missed the game due to injury.
Goalie Robin Lehner was the starting goalie and recorded 15 saves.