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.
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