On Monday night, Jordan Binnington made 24 saves to help the St Louis Blues defeat the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, 3-1.
The win pushed the Blues to within four points f first place in the Central Division.
The Blues are, by far, the most successful team following a coaching change this season.
Ryan O’Reilly snapped goal drought in win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
St Louis won all four games on the homestand they ended Monday night.
“This homestand’s been pretty good,” Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. “We haven’t been great at home all year. I think to have a four-game stretch like this at home, still trying to push and get ready for the playoffs, that’s pretty big because you know that’s going to be pretty big in a series like that.
“The last two games, you knew there were really good teams coming in. I thought we played pretty well. You’re never going to play a perfect game and they’re going to get chances. They are who they are, but I thought we handled it pretty well.”
Zach Sanford had a goal and two points for the Blues.
“Looking at our roster coming into the season, everyone knew we were going to have a really strong team,” Sanford said. “It just took us a little while to put it together. I don’t think any of us are too surprised that we’re here.”
The Knights had a chance to lock down a playoff position with a win.
William Karlsson scored the Knights’ only goal.
“I thought it was a good game, good hockey game by both teams,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “Obviously they got the three goals and beat us tonight, but I thought we played well. We made a couple mistakes that ended in the back of our net, but there wasn’t a lot of room out there. It was a playoff atmosphere type of game and they played really well.”
Ivan Barbashev and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Blues.
“Obviously if you look at these last four games, it’s been good,” O’Reilly said. “We’ve found a way to win games and coming into the end of the year, that’s what we want. We want this to be a tough building to play in, and it’s good. We’ve got to keep building. We’re not done yet. Get a good day off and get back to work.”
For O’Reilly, it was first goal in nine games.
“It was nice to get on the board,” O’Reilly said. “I haven’t been shooting the puck very well lately and obviously [Bouwmeester] made just a great pass to set me up there. The goal came at a good time.”
[WATCH: All Golden Knights vs. Blues highlights]
Malcolm Subban made 19 saves in the loss.
“I think it was both sides,” Jonathan Marchessault said of the low shot totals in the game. “I think it was a tight game in the neutral zone. I think both teams played well and managed the puck well. We made like two or three mistakes out there and they cashed in.”
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