Blues lose to Golden Knights, will start Stanley Cup Playoffs on road

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues will open the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the road after losing 7-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights in their regular-season finale at Enterprise Center on Friday.

The Blues finished third in the Central Division and will face the Minnesota Wild, who finished second, in the Western Conference First Round. Game 1 is Monday.
Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist and Jordan Kyrou and David Perron each had a goal and an assist for the Blues (49-22-11), who lost their second straight in regulation after a team-record 16-game point streak. Ville Husso made 38 saves.
"I don't think it was our best game by any means, kind of watching a bit," O'Reilly said. "It's kind of a tough one. Obviously they're out of the playoffs. It's their last one. It's kind of a hard one to get stuff going, but it's behind us now. We had a great regular season and the focus draws to 'Minny' now. It's going to be a heck of a challenge."
Jack Eichel scored twice and had an assist, and Jonathan Marchessault, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Zach Whitecloud each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (43-31-8), who will miss the playoffs for the first time in their five NHL seasons. Logan Thompson made 14 saves.
"It's always good to win hockey games," Eichel said. "It's been a few games since we've had that feeling. Every day you've got to be grateful to play in the NHL. We have a sold-out arena and lot of fans come to see us play. It's our duty to give our best no matter what. It's good to see us win. Winning is a lot better than losing."

Mark Stone's power-play goal at 13:41 of the first period gave Vegas a 1-0 lead when he put in a rebound of an Alex Pietrangelo slap shot.
Perron tied it 1-1 at 16:05 for St. Louis, getting back his own pass attempt to Brandon Saad and sliding it through Thompson.
O'Reilly's 20th goal of the season made it 2-1 at 4:40 of the second period when he skated through the crease and backhanded in a loose puck off a Krug shot.
Eichel tied it 2-2 at 9:08 on a tip of Whitecloud's wrister from the right point.
Kyrou's power-play goal gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 12:24, a wrist shot from the slot high stick side on Thompson.
Whitecloud's goal tied it 3-3 at 15:32 from the right circle, beating Husso on the short side off the crossbar and in.
After the second period, it was evident to the Blues that the Wild were winning their game. they defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-1, so the Blues were more focused on making sure there would be no injuries in a third period that would be deemed meaningless to their home-ice chances.
"It's a tough game. It really is, but it is what it is," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "... The page is turned already. It's over. Minny. That's all. We're all on Minny."

Karlsson gave the Golden Knights their first lead, 4-3 at 3:20 of the third period on a wrist shot from the left circle, and Marchessault made it 5-3 at 6:41 when he batted a loose puck through traffic.
O'Reilly made it 5-4 at 13:20, a one-timer from the slot for St. Louis' second power-play goal.
Eichel made it 6-4 at 15:48 on a shot from the slot through a screen.
Pacioretty's empty-net goal at 17:44 made it a 7-4 final.
"The guys played hard," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Again, not the greatest circumstances, as we know. We didn't mail it in. We showed up like we did most nights this year and battled hard and found a way to win. There'll be time to reflect on the bigger picture but, you know, at least we can feel good about the effort we put in tonight."
NOTES:Marchessault matched his NHL career-high with 30 goals; he had 30 with the Florida Panthers in 2016-17. ... Stone has 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 22 games against the Blues. ... Pacioretty has 21 points (13 goals, eight assists) in 22 games against St. Louis. ... O'Reilly became the ninth Blues player to reach 20 goals, one off the St. Louis record of 10 in 1980-81; he has seven points (four goals, three assists) the past three games and 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 19 games against the Golden Knights. ... Kyrou has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past three games. ... St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug had two assists to give him 14 points (two goals, 10 assists) the past 13 games.