GDT #53: Blues @ G. Knights | 9:00 pm CT | BSMW, 101 ESPN, NHL.TV Free

[theohall]

The Blues have collected points in eight straight games (5-0-3) and in four straight road games (2-0-2). Can they keep that streak going tonight in Vegas?

Saturday's game will be the final regular-season meeting between the Blues and Golden Knights, but the clubs could meet again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

THE SERIES SO FAR
Jan. 26: Blues 5, Golden Knights 4 (SO)
A back-and-forth game featured an excessive amount of penalties by both teams, but the Blues emerged with a 5-4 win thanks to shootout goals from David Perron and Brayden Schenn. Perron also scored twice in regulation, and Jordan Kyrou turned heads with a dazzling goal that former Blue Alex pietrangelo frustrated. Max Pacioretty netted a hat trick for Vegas, but Jordan Binnington made 42 saves to help the Blues to a win in the first game of the series.

March 12: Golden Knights 5, Blues 4 (OT)
Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal of the season in his third game back from shoulder surgery, helping the Blues overcome a 2-0 first period deficit to earn a point in an eventual overtime loss against the Golden Knights. Zach Sanford registered a goal and an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 35 saves. The Blues lost their third straight game in overtime but have still managed to collect points in seven consecutive games (4-0-3).

March 13: Golden Knights 5, Blues 1
Mark Stone scored twice in the third period, Max Pacioretty had a goal and two assists and Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves in a 5-1 win against the Blues.

March 22: Golden Knights 5, Blues 1
In a repeat of the last meeting between the teams, Mark Stone again came up with two goals in a four-goal third period for the Golden Knights. Vince Dunn scored the lone goal for the Blues while Jordan Binnington made 30 saves.

April 5: Golden Knights 6, Blues 1
Alec Martinez scored two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights scored four times in the second period en route to a 6-1 win against the Blues at Enterprise Center. Tyler Bozak scored the Blues' only goal in the game.

April 7: Blues 3, Golden Knights 1
Jordan Binnington made a career-high 50 saves to help the Blues snap a seven-game winless streak in a 3-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Enterprise Center. Vladimir Tarasenko and Sammy Blais scored, but it was Jake Walman who sealed the win late in the third period with his first career NHL goal.

May 7: Golden Knights 4, Blues 3 (OT)
The Blues jumped out to a 3-1 lead on goals from Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron and Jaden Schwartz, but the Vegas Golden Knights battled back to tie the game in the third period and eventually earned two points thanks to a goal from Jonathan Marchessault with just 18 seconds remaining in overtime. St. Louis clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a point.

Vegas hosts the St. Louis Blues after the Golden Knights knocked off St. Louis 4-3 in overtime.

The Golden Knights are 38-13-2 against the rest of their division. Vegas is eighth in the league with 32.4 shots per game and is averaging 3.4 goals.

The Blues are 24-19-9 against the rest of their division. St. Louis has converted on 22.6% of power-play opportunities, recording 33 power-play goals.

The teams meet for the second straight game.

TOP PERFORMERS: Max Pacioretty leads the Golden Knights with 24 goals, adding 27 assists and collecting 51 points. Shea Theodore has seven assists over the last 10 games for Vegas.

Ryan O'Reilly leads the Blues with a plus-23 in 52 games this season. David Perron has three goals and seven assists over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Knights: 8-2-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.3 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.4 goals per game with a .919 save percentage.

Blues: 5-2-3, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 3.1 penalties and 7.9 penalty minutes while allowing 2.8 goals per game with a .909 save percentage.

INJURIES: Golden Knights: Tomas Nosek: out (undisclosed), Max Pacioretty: day to day (undisclosed).

Blues: Mackenzie MacEachern: out (upper body), Vladimir Tarasenko: day to day (lower-body), Torey Krug: day to day (upper body), Vince Dunn: day to day (upper body), Carl Gunnarsson: out for season (lower body), Oskar Sundqvist: out for season (knee).

The St. Louis Blues will be trying to snap their two-game losing streak when they face the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night. The Blues are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Golden Knights in their last game.

Vegas is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games against St. Louis.

The Blues have won five of their last eight games, but they have struggled in recent games, losing three of their last four games. With the playoffs fast approaching, they will like to get back on track with a win over the Golden Knights, which will give them their sixth win in their last nine games.

St. Louis has played well offensively, averaging 2.94 goals per game. They scored three goals on 25 shots in their last game.

Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron, and Jaden Schwartz scored a goal for the Blues, while Tyler Bozak finished with two assists.

St. Louis is one of the worst defensive teams in the league, giving up 3.04 goals per game. They gave up four goals in their last game and will need to play better if they want to win this game.

The Golden Knights are playing well at the moment and they’ve won 13 of their last 15 games. They are currently on top of the West Division standings with a four-point lead over Colorado. They will try to keep the momentum going and secure the top seed in the conference with a win over the Blues, which will give them their third win in a row and 14th win in their last 16 games.

Vegas is one of the best offensive teams in the league, averaging 3.37 goals per game. They scored four goals on 35 shots in their last game.

Reilly Smith, Alec Martinez, Nicolas Roy, and Jonathan Marchessault scored a goal apiece for the Golden Knights, while Nicolas Hague had two assists.

The Golden Knights have been just as good defensively, giving up 2.23 goals per game. They gave up three goals in their last game and will need to do a better job if they want to get the win.

The Blues are playing very well, winning five of their last eight games. But, they haven’t been as successful on the road, losing six of their last eight games. They gave up 30 goals during the span and will struggle defensively once again against the Golden Knights, who have one of the best offenses in the league and scored at least three goals in five of their last six home games. The Golden Knights have also done a great job on the defensive end in their last five home games, giving up 10 goals. They gave up six goals in their last four games against the Blues and won’t have trouble slowing them down once again. With the Golden Knights winning five of the last seven games between the two teams, Vegas is the best bet here.

Comment on the bold, italic, underlined thing - the Blues are the worst defensive team in the playoffs. Currently, the Detroit Red Wings give up fewer goals/game.

[gaijin]

Nonsense. Obviously the Blues only give up goals when they are up by two. Let's stop doing that, shall we?

And the way the Blues will stop blowing two-goal leads is by never being up by two goals.

[Robb_K]

Pretty poor 1st Period by The Blues. I hope they decide to play this period!

[theohall]

They look like a team just going through the motions of playing a game. No real intensity. Complete opposite of the 130+ penalty minute Tampa-Florida game tonight.

[Robb_K]

Parayko right in front- stole the puck and lifted a backhander by Fleury with only 36 seconds left!!!!! Blues back within 1!!!!!

[Robb_K]

Not a much better 2nd than 1st, but, luckily, Parayko bailed them out, and they're now only one shot away from a tie, and 2 shots away from a win. I hope that gives them some momentum and energy to come out in The 3rd and take charge of this game.

[ComradeT]

Some bullshit calls and non-calls benefiting VGK tonight. Of course as I type it they call a pretty weak trip on Petro.

[Portland Blues]

Hoping this isn't how the first round goes against Vegas.

[Robb_K]

Not a good game for The Blues not really playing until the last seconds of The 2nd. They played well in The 3rd, and had lots of great scoring chances, but they couldn't finish. I hope they get rested enough, hurt players come back, and they can get back to playing their game in The Playoffs' 1st series.

[theohall]

Kozari is an annoying official. He is just massively inconsistent in the way he calls penalties. It always seems like one team benefits more than the other. ROR was ticked. I still couldn't figure out how that situation with Sanford, the goalie, the slash, the trip - and all that wound up 4-on-4... made no sense.

Anyway - Blues just need to play better, but seeding isn't changing for the Blues. These last 3 are all "meaningless" games other than Berube trying to find better line combos and d-pairings - which won't be that easy given the injuries and wanting to rest the guys needed most for the playoffs. I'd give ROR 2 games off.

[gaijin]

Predicting a first round exit for the Blues this year. They will likely get Vegas, with a small chance of facing Colorado. I would prefer Colorado, since I think the Blues have a better shot than they do against the Knights, but the Avs are still likely to win out in a 7-game series.

[Portland Blues]

Predicting a first round exit for the Blues this year. They will likely get Vegas, with a small chance of facing Colorado. I would prefer Colorado, since I think the Blues have a better shot than they do against the Knights, but the Avs are still likely to win out in a 7-game series.

Agreed on all points. Just doesn't feel like we have the "special" something this year. I'd love to be wrong but I'm prepared to lose in a sweep in the first round.