Marner has 2 points, Golden Knights defeat Blues

LAS VEGAS -- Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-2 victory against the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Mark Stone extended his goal streak to seven games, and Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore scored for the Golden Knights (20-11-12), who have won three in a row and will face the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Sunday for the second of a back-to-back set. Akira Schmid made 17 saves.

“We’re stacking some wins,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We did that earlier in the year. If we want to get back where we want to be, we’re going to have to do that a little bit.”

Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist, and Jake Neighbours scored for the Blues (17-21-8), who have lost their past three. Jordan Binnington made 21 saves.

“You get one early and just can’t sustain it,” Neighbours said. “Can’t get it to a two-goal lead or keep the momentum in our favor. At the end of the day, guys battled, but there are little things here and there that we have to do better. It’ll sustain more offense and sustain momentum for us.”

Blues defenseman Philip Broberg, who signed a six-year, $48 million contract earlier in the day, had an assist but left the game 1:30 into the first period with an upper-body injury following a hit from Stone.

“It’s unfortunate to lose Broberg,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “The team was really excited to play for him after announcing his extension. Unfortunately, he got injured there. We had to go down to five 'D' in three in four nights.

“He’s doing all right. We’ll have to see day by day here, see how he responds.”

Thomas gave the Blues a 1-0 lead just 53 seconds into the first period. Broberg's dump-in attempt bounced off the end boards in front to Thomas, who tapped the puck into an open net.

Marner tied it 1-1 at 7:34. St. Louis defenseman Tyler Tucker's clearing attempt bounced off the boards to Marner, who skated in on Binnington and deked before tucking the puck past his left skate.

“He’s such a creative player,” Eichel said. “He makes so many plays. It’s been a lot of fun to watch. It seems like he’s getting more and more comfortable every game, and you can see that with his contributions.”

Eichel put Vegas up 2-1 at 1:27 of the second period. He threw the puck into the crease from the goal line and it deflected off the stick of Blues defenseman Colton Parayko and through Binnington's pads.

Theodore pushed the lead to 3-1 at 15:48 when he collected a pass from Jeremy Lauzon and beat Binnington over the left shoulder with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. Theodore had not played since Dec. 13, missing the previous 11 games with an upper-body injury.

“The timing of it sometimes takes a little bit to come back, but my legs felt good, body felt good,” Theodore said. “It’s always nice to score, so getting one in your first game back is something I’m trying to build on.”

Neighbours brought St. Louis to within 3-2 with a power-play goal at 3:33 of the third period when he scored on a wrist shot from the slot past Schmid's glove.

“Not exactly how power-play goals usually come, but we’ll take it for the percentage,” Neighbours said. “We’ll continue to improve it. I still don’t think it’s at a level where we need it to be, if we want to be difference makers in the game, but we’ll take the goal and move on.”

Stone scored an empty-net goal at 17:36 for the 4-2 final. He also extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, two assists).

“It was great to see him get that one to keep his streak going,” Eichel said. “'Stoney’s' been awesome for us all year. … It’s great to see him get rewarded.”

NOTE: Marner played his 700th NHL game and extended his point streak to three games (one goal, five assists). ... Stone tied Max Pacioretty (seven games from Dec. 1-14, 2021) for the longest goal streak in Vegas franchise history. ... Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar played his 400th NHL game.