Sanford scores 4, but Blues lose to Knights in OT

[February 14, 2020]    Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, including the game-winner on a power play in overtime, to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in Las Vegas.

Blues left wing Zach Sanford (12) scores a first period goal against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban (30) at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Marchessault ripped in a rebound of a Max Pacioretty shot from the bottom of the left circle for his 20th goal of the season to win it.

Pacioretty also scored twice, his 49th career two-goal game, and Nate Schmidt and Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas. Mark Stone finished with four assists, and Shea Theodore and William Karlsson each added two helpers. Malcolm Subban stopped 19 shots.

Zach Sanford, who entered the game with just eight goals, became the first St. Louis player since David Backes on Jan. 6, 2015, to score four goals in a game and the fifth player in the NHL this season to perform the feat.

Mackenzie MacEachern also scored for St. Louis, and Ryan O'Reilly, Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn each added two assists. Jordan Binnington finished with 46 saves.

St. Louis, behind a pair of goals by Sanford, led 3-2 after the first period. Sanford opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game when he fired in a shot in from the dot in the left circle.

Pacioretty then gave Vegas a 2-1 lead with a pair of goals in a 4 1/2 minute span, the first on the power play when he ripped a shot in from the middle of the left circle, and the second on a rebound of his own shot in the crease for his 26th goal of the season.

Sanford tied it midway through the period when he backhanded in a rebound of a Robert Bortuzzo shot. MacEachern then gave the Blues a 3-2 lead with his seventh goal of the season when he deflected Ivan Barbashev's redirection of a Dunn shot past Subban's glove side.

Sanford made it 4-2 early in the second period to complete the hat trick, slamming in a rebound of his own shot.

But the Golden Knights rallied to tie it with a pair of power play goals, the first by Marchessault when his one-timer from the high slot deflected in off the skate of the Blues' Alexander Steen. The second came when Schmidt one-timed a shot from the point past a screen by Reilly Smith.

Sanford then gave St. Louis a 5-4 lead midway through the third period when he tapped in a Colton Parayko pass inside the left post. But Vegas tied with 4:40 left when Tuch deflected Jon Merrill's shot past Binnington.

--Field Level Media

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