Smith’s power-play goal in OT gives Knights 5-4 win over Blues
Knights get rare power-play goal in OT
Eventually, the Golden Knights will be able to look back fondly on this long, crazy, never-a-dull-moment road trip.
There’s bound to be a few inside jokes that develop. And after all the speed bumps they’ve had to navigate the past week, it might bring them even closer together.
The latest galvanizing twist came Friday when goaltender Marc-andre Fleury was cleared to play against St. Louis after a false positive test for COVID-19.
In keeping with the nuttiness, the Knights then played a back-and-forth thriller that ended when Reilly Smith scored 2:38 into overtime for a 5-4 victory over the Blues at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
“There has been a lot of distractions and adversity to deal with. I’m really proud of our group,” coach Pete Deboer said. “I like how we responded tonight after the last Minnesota game.
”I don’t think anyone liked how we played in Minnesota in the second game. I thought we responded with a big effort here tonight.”
The Knights (17-6-1, 35 points) snapped a two-game losing streak and extended their lead in the West Division to two points over St. Louis. It was their first victory at Enterprise Center in five tries.
Despite being kicked out of their hotel in San Jose, California, at the start of the trip and losing defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to injury along the way, the Knights are guaranteed at least a .500 record on the six-game swing that wraps up Saturday with the second of the back-to-back games.
The Knights’ power play, which had gone five games without a goal, came through in the overtime after the Blues’ red-hot power play scored twice in the third period and took the lead.
Smith buried a crossice feed from Jonathan Marchessault for his sixth goal and third in the past five games. Defenseman Alec Martinez swept in a loose puck from close range with 8:33 remaining in regulation and tied the score at 4.
“I think our group is pretty good at just expecting the inevitable this year,” Smith said. “These road trips can be tough and they can be long. When we stick together as a group like did tonight and pick up two points it makes them go by a lot quicker.”
Fleury, who was pulled in the third period of Wednesday’s loss, entered the NHL COVID protocol Thursday and spent more than 24 hours isolating in his hotel room before he was cleared to make his 14th start in the past 15 games.
He became the 12th goalie in NHL history to surpass 50,000 regular-season minutes played and moved into fifth all time with his 197th career road victory.
“A little stressful, no doubt,” Fleury said. “I was happy to get another shot at it, come back in tonight after spending a day and a half in my room.”
Mark Stone and Marchessault staked the Knights to a 2-0 lead with goals 41 seconds apart in the first period. Tomas Nosek increased the lead to 3-1 in the the second period before the Blues answered with three straight goals.
“These are the kinds of games you want to be a part of,” Stone said. “They’re one of the better teams in our division. It’s nice to come out with a win tonight. We’ve just got to reset and be ready for another battle.”