The Golden Knights opened their road trip with the type of game they’d been chasing, ending a four-game skid with a sharp 4–1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night at Enterprise Center. Vegas scored twice in the opening seven minutes and handled the rest with steady, simple hockey.
Brandon Saad got things going with his first of the season against his former team. Minutes later, rookie Braeden Bowman tipped in a Pavel Dorofeyev pass on the power play for his first NHL goal, sending the bench into a loud celebration.
“Guys were happy for him,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re seeing secondary offense now, and when that happens for us, good things usually follow.”
Vegas stayed in control early in the second when Noah Hanifin buried a one-timer through traffic to make it 3–0. Akira Schmid handled the rest, stopping 22 shots and keeping the Blues off the board until the final four minutes.
“It’s a dream come true,” Bowman said. “It’s a big win. We know we’re back at it tomorrow.”
Dorofeyev finished with three assists, and Cassidy said Bowman’s arrival helped settle the lineup.
“It’s a domino effect,” Cassidy said. “It lets us build that third line with Reilly Smith, Saad and Howden—veteran guys who know how to play.”
Tomas Hertl added the 4–0 breakaway goal in the third before St. Louis finally spoiled Schmid’s night late. Vegas closed it out cleanly, showing the structure and pace missing during the losing streak.
“We created turnovers and capitalized,” Saad said. “Overall, it was a really good game for us.”
The win moves Vegas to 8–4–5 (21 points) as the Knights head to Minnesota for the second half of the back-to-back.
The Golden Knights travel to Minnesota to face the Wild today at 3 p.m. PT. Minnesota enters at 8–7–4 (20 points) and won its last game in overtime.
“It’s on to the next,” Saad said. “We know we’ve got a tough team tomorrow.
“We didn’t play our best tonight, and it’s frustrating. The injuries are piling up, but we can’t let that be an excuse. We’ve got to fight through it, especially when we have a chance to take control. We’ll need to learn from this and be ready for the road trip.”
— Jeremy Swayman, on the Bruins’ frustrating loss to the Hurricanes.
Boston Bruins fans were hoping for another strong performance on Monday night, but instead, their team fell flat in a
The Bruins entered the game already dealing with several key injuries. Elias Lindholm remains sidelined, and both
The turning point came in the
Despite having four power-play opportunities, the Bruins failed to capitalize. They registered just five shots during those man-advantage situations, and
The Bruins pushed hard in the
After the game, Jeremy Swayman voiced his frustration: “We didn’t play our best tonight, and it’s frustrating. The injuries are piling up, but we can’t let that be an excuse. We’ve got to fight through it, especially when we have a chance to take control. We’ll need to learn from this and be ready for the road trip.”
The Bruins will now embark on a four-game road trip, starting with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in Southern California. With their injury list growing,