Takeaways from the Blues’ 5-2 victory over the Golden Knights

The Blues have won two of their last three games.

The St. Louis Blues returned home to host the Vegas Golden Knights. And guess what, St. Louis defeated Vegas 5-2 at the Enterprise Center on Monday night. With the win, St. Louis improved to 10-6-2.

Here are my three takeaways from the Blues’ 5-2 victory over the Golden Knights.

The Blues won two of their last three.
After a tough 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, the Blues bounced back nicely with a 5-2 victory over the Golden Knights. The Blues won two of their last three games, which was definitely something to be proud of in the young NHL season.

The Blues’ victory didn’t come easy. They had to bounce back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period. But they came through with not only three or four goals, but five unanswered goals. The five goals were scored in this order: Ryan O’Reilly (3), Tyler Bozak (1), Justin Faulk (3), Brandon Saad (8), and Niko Mikkola (1). They impressed the home crowd, who likely expected them to benefit from home-ice advantage.

After the game, Blues head coach Craig Berube told the local media: “We talked on the bench, (Ryan) O’Reilly did a great job of keeping guys motivated, keep working. We did a nice job coming back.”

Two Blues players netted their first NHL goals of the season.
Veteran center Tyler Bozak and rookie defenseman Niko Mikkola netted their first NHL goals of the season in the first and third periods, respectively.

Mikkola’s goal was his official warm welcome to the NHL. His goal was an insurance goal, but it was special to him and his teammates nonetheless. Congratulations to him!

The Golden Knights gave the Blues a lot of opportunities.
The Golden Knights carried a two-game winning streak to the Enterprise Center. They’ve won three of their last five games. They played strong hockey, but they seemed to have let their lead slip away.

Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer told the media: “We got the start we wanted for a change and we talked about that … Then we let them get back in the game. The first goal was a bad angle and then we turn one over for a breakaway.”

“If you’re going to win on the road in this League, you can’t beat yourself. I thought that was the case in the first period. We made some mistakes and had some penalties and that’s a recipe for disaster when you’re on the road.”

The Blues play the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at 6:30 pm Central.