The Golden Knights carried over their play from the third period against the Dallas Stars and dominated the first period. Four minutes into the game however, it was former Golden Knight David Perron who broke the ice. Perron caught Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury off guard after a turnover and gave the Blues a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights had numerous opportunities to even the score in the first period after allowing the first goal. Their best chance came on a power play sequence where defenseman Alec Martinez put once shot off the post. After a mad scramble in front, Martinez found the puck on his stick once again and put the follow up chance off his own player. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington was under siege in the last 10 minutes of the period but managed to stand tall. Despite outshooting the Blues 13-5, the Golden Knights were unable to find the back of the net and trailed 1-0 entering the first intermission.
The second period turned into a wild goose chase with both teams scoring in buckets. Colton Parayko got the Blues off to a fast start to begin the second period. After a turnover on the boards by the Golden Knights, Parayko drove to the net and scored over the left shoulder of Fleury to make it 2-0. The Golden Knights are no strangers to chasing the game against the Blues. In the regular season, they trailed 3-0 and 4-2 in two of the three match-ups. They came back to win both games. When the Golden Knights went onto a power play just over five minutes into the period, Shea Theodore would finally get them on the board. Theodore took a feed from Mark Stone and shot the puck through traffic, just under the arm of Jordan Binnington to cut the deficit to one. Alex Tuch scored two goals after to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead and all the momentum in the game. 52 seconds after taking the lead, Parayko scored once again to even the score at three. 21 seconds later, Blues forward Troy Brouwer scored to give the Blues a 4-3 lead after another turnover by the Golden Knights. Vegas dominated the period in terms of shots and offensive zone presence, but like their game against the Stars, entered the third period facing a deficit.
Last game against the Stars, the Golden Knights rode a four-goal outburst to win the game. They entered the period facing a one goal deficit, but still controlled play. Two minutes into the period, Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud scored his first National Hockey League goal to tie the game at 4. Reily Smith had a fantastic opportunity on the penalty kill to give the Golden Knights the lead, but was stoned by Binnington at the front of the net. 10 minutes after Whitecloud’s goal, the Golden Knights regained the lead once again. Mark Stone scored his 8th playoff goal in 9 games with the Golden Knights to give his team the lead with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. Two minutes later, Shea Theodore scored his second goal of the game to give Vegas some breathing room. The Blues pushed late after William Carrier took a slashing penalty but were unable to cash in on the man advantage. The Golden Knights would not surrender this lead and went on to win the game 6-4, despite some shaky defense and goaltending.
With this win, Vegas has guaranteed themselves at least the number two seed for the next round of the playoffs. They will face the Colorado Avalanche on Aug. 8 to determine which team will be the number one overall seed in the Western Conference. Colorado dominated Vegas in the two games they played this season. They won the first game 4-1 and the second game 7-3. The teams never met for a third time due to COVID-19 canceling the remainder of the NHL regular season.
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