{"id":388741,"date":"2026-01-03T17:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/388741\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T17:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:50:10","slug":"takeaways-from-blues-4-3-win-vs-vegas-golden-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/388741\/","title":{"rendered":"Takeaways from Blues 4-3 Win vs. Vegas Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The St. Louis Blues took down the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, 4-3, after a late-game winning goal by Brayden Schenn. The Blues win their first game of 2026, improving to 16-18-8.<\/p>\n

Late Goal From Brayden Schenn Wins it<\/p>\n

With 1:33 left in the third, Schenn scored the game-winning goal. Snuggerud entered from the right-hand side and ripped a shot that was saved by Hart. He coughed up a rebound, and Schenn crashed the net hard. As he was crashing the net, the puck bounced off his skate, resulting in the game-winning goal. Vegas did not challenge, as there was no intent to kick the puck into the net.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t just a special goal on the ice, kyit was made even more meaningful because Schenn\u2019s wife delivered their third child, a daughter, on Thursday. An all-around great moment for Schenn and his family.<\/p>\n

Missed Early Opportunity <\/p>\n

Just 1:35 into the game, Jordan Kyrou<\/a> was called for holding. The penalty kill was successful, and when Kyrou exited the box he found himself with a breakaway chance. At 3:44, Noah Hanifin was called for slashing Kyrou, resulting in a penalty shot. Kyrou skated in and tried to go glove side but was unable to beat Carter Hart.<\/p>\n

Vegas Strikes First Early<\/p>\n

Vegas took a 1\u20130 lead after Keegan Kolesar snuck one past Hofer. Snuggerud and Kessel both pinned Saad along the boards, and when the puck came loose, they were left stuck behind the play. Faulk went to finish a check on Sissons, who made a quick, sweet pass to Kolesar, leaving him with a breakaway that he finished.<\/p>\n

The Blues were trying to be as physical as possible, and while that is usually great for this team, on this play they were too physical. Too many players were pinning opponents along the boards, which allowed the Vegas player to push up front and get by all St. Louis defenders.<\/p>\n

Fourth Line Magic Continues<\/p>\n

It seems that some of the best play on this team comes from the fourth line. Just after Vegas took the lead, Toropchenko got it back to even with his goal. Just 27 seconds after Vegas opened the scoring, at 10:39, Toropchenko entered the zone wide on the left side and got off an initial shot. After it was saved, he crashed the net hard and put home his own rebound to tie the game 1\u20131.<\/p>\n

Then, in the second period at 6:37, Sundqvist gave St. Louis a 3\u20131 lead. He entered the zone on the left-hand side and tried to make a pass to Snuggerud in front. The pass was blocked and sat right on the crease, and Sundqvist<\/a> crashed the net. He got his own rebound and buried it to extend the Blues\u2019 lead.<\/p>\n

The fourth line has been nothing short of spectacular this season. Their work ethic and heart define the identity of the Blues. Both of their goals came from relentless effort and driving the puck to the net.<\/p>\n

Justin Faulk Scores But Has Two Bad Turnovers After<\/p>\n

Faulk gave the Blues a 2\u20131 lead early in the second period at 5:39. Buchnevich fed him a cross-ice pass while he was in the right circle. Faulk wired a wrist shot that beat Hart glove side. With this goal, he became the Blues\u2019 current leading goal scorer for the season with 11.<\/p>\n

Even with this milestone and a strong season, what happened next were two costly mistakes that both led to goals.<\/p>\n

His first mistake came when he tried to make a pass through the center that was batted out of the air by Brett Howden. The puck ended up in front of the net, and after a couple of bounces, Mark Stone easily put it in to cut the deficit to one.<\/p>\n

Yes, it was a great play by Howden to knock it out of the air, but this pass should\u2019ve never been tried by Faulk.<\/p>\n

His second mistake allowed Vegas to tie the game 3\u20133 in the third period. It\u2019s unclear exactly what happened, but it appeared Faulk lost control of his stick, which caused him to lose the puck. This occurred in the defensive zone, and Braeden Bowman was the first to pick up the puck after Faulk\u2019s error. Bowman drove to the net and dumped it off to Pavel Dorofeyev, who made a nice deke to beat Hofer.<\/p>\n

These mistakes by Faulk are inexcusable for a veteran defenseman who has been a key part of this lineup. That said, he has played great this season and most likely just needs to regroup on the defensive side of things.<\/p>\n

Joel Hofer Played Well With Not Much Help<\/p>\n

Hofer finished the game with a .875 save percentage, stopping 21 of 24 shots. But these stats don\u2019t do him much justice. Many mistakes left him out to dry for much of the game. All three goals came on odd-man rushes, and while Hofer did his best, he wasn\u2019t able to stop them.<\/p>\n

Outside of those plays, he made several great saves, including in the third period when he robbed Braeden Bowman with a stretched pad save to keep the game tied.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no reason to blame the goaltending for the three goals, as he didn\u2019t have much of a chance on any of them.<\/p>\n

\tDiscover more from Inside The Rink<\/p>\n

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