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The Vegas Golden Knights fell short in their latest game after a third period comeback, overtime and a shootout from the St. Louis Blues.
The Knights endured a 5-4 shootout loss to the Blues Tuesday, Jan. 26th, from the T-Mobile Arena.
Despite the loss, left-wing Max Pacioretty netted the first hat trick of his Golden Knights career.
Vegas is now tied with the Washington Capitals for second in the league with 11 points, while the Toronto Maple Leafs lead with 12.
With a 5-1-1 record, the Knights look to tie the series, Thursday, Jan. 28 against the Blues.
“I think we did a lot of good things tonight,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “I thought we bounced back real good. The one thing that has been evident these last few games is we’re getting chances, we just need to find a way to bear down and hit the net.”
It was the first time Pietrangelo faced his former team of 11 years.
Due to COVID-19 protocols, the VGK coaches were forced into isolation and could not attend the game.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon and Henderson Silver Knights coaches Manny Viveiros, Joel Ward and Jamie Heward were behind the bench.
“Today we had an exposure on our coaching staff, the best way to handle that is to isolate the entire staff,” McCrimmon said. “We will close our facility tomorrow to let another day go through the system.”
The players didn’t find out about the coaching situation until they arrived at the arena.
Right-wing Alex Tuch scored just a little over three minutes into the game, putting Vegas on the board first.
He now has three goals and six points on the season.
Pietrangelo and right-wing Keegan Kolesar both assisted on Tuch’s goal.
Less than a minute later, St. Louis responded to tie the game with a goal by left-wing David Perron.
The Blues scored two more in the first period to extend their lead 3-1. One was a power play goal by defenseman Torey Krug, followed by a goal by left-wing Jaden Schwartz.
The Knights outshot the Blues 17 to 7 in that period, with each team having one penalty a piece.
In the second period, Pacioretty scored his first goal of the evening to close the gap 3-2. Defensemen Alec Martinez and right-wing Mark Stone were credited with the assist on Pacioretty’s goal.
St. Louis right-wing Jordan Kyrou scored five minutes into the second period to extend St. Louis’s lead to two goals once again.
Penalties increased in the second and third periods.
Vegas had a total of six penalties with one, five-minute penalty on Stone for fighting.
Pacioretty scored two more goals in the third period to complete the hat trick and even the score 4-4.
Stone and defenseman Shea Theodore got the assists on Pacioretty’s second goal of the night. Stone and defenseman Alec Martinez both assisted on the third.
“It was a great goal and every single person on the ice got involved. It was kind of a stretch pass to me,” Pacioretty said about tying the game. “Marty came up the ice and he made a terrific pass and I put it in an empty net.”
Pacioretty now has six goals in seven games.
He’s tied for the most in the NHL with Mikko Rantanen, on the Colorado Avalanche.
Stone has 11 points, tied for third most in the league.
“We’re going to make mistakes, there are going to be breakdowns, we’re going to have penalties, they’re going to score and sometimes you just have to find a way to win,” Pietrangelo said.