William Karlsson scored at 4:36 of overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. Reilly Smith and Colin Miller scored in the second period for the Golden Knights, who have won six of their first seven games to open their inaugural season. Malcolm Subban stopped 37 shots before being helped to the dressing room by two trainers with 9:10 remaining in regulation after stretching out on a wide shot by Jaden Schwartz. Oscar Dansk stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced in his NHL debut, making key stops at the end of regulation and in overtime.
Magnus Paajarvi and Alex Pietrangelo scored for St. Louis, and Jake Allen _ fifth on the franchise wins list (94) _ finished with 19 saves. With 5:08 left in the third, Schwartz fed a wide-open Pietrangelo, who fired a slap shot past Dansk to tie the score 2-2.
The Blues thought they may have tied the game at 3:13 of the third when Vladimir Sobotka’s chip shot went off Subban’s body, and both he and the puck ended up in the net. But after an official review, there was not enough evidence to overturn the no-goal call. And while the Golden Knights barely generated any offense in the first two periods, mainly from unforced neutral zone turnovers by St. Louis, they managed to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room after two periods.
After Colin Miller’s shot was blocked by Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson, the puck squirted right to Smith, who fired a shot from the left circle past Allen on a power play to tie it 1-1 with 6:06 remaining in the second. Then, with 2:33 left in the period, and the Golden Knights on another power play, Miller ripped a shot from the right circle past Allen, who was screened perfectly by 6-foot-5 Alex Tuch, giving the Knights a one-goal edge. St. Louis opened the scoring at 7:09 of first when Oskar Sundqvist got stuffed on a wraparound but Paajarvi was on the spot to wedge the rebound under Subban’s pads.
St. Louis, which played seven of its first nine game on the road, will finish October playing three of four at home.
