Golden Knights top Blues in OT despite Tarasenko's first goal

ST. LOUIS --Reilly Smith scored a power-play goal at 2:38 of overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-4 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Friday.

Smith's one-timer from the right face-off circle beat Jordan Binnington to the near post with Blues defenseman Torey Krug in the box for tripping Smith.
"Really nice to be able to help the team pick up two points," Smith said. "Our power play hasn't been clicking the way we want it to, and [you] kind of reinvent the wheel a little bit when you're struggling like that to put puck in the net, but sometimes the best thing to do is just put the puck on the net and score an ugly one. … I think that's what we're going to have to start doing a little bit more [of]."
Smith, Jonathan Marchessault and Alec Martinez each had a goal and an assist, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves after being removed from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list Friday for Vegas (17-6-1), which had lost two in a row.
Fleury missed the morning skate and was quarantined in his hotel room after being put on the list Thursday, but a false positive enabled him to rejoin the team.
"It was a little stressful, no doubt," Fleury said. "I got a call early in the morning (Thursday) saying I had a positive test and to just stay in my room. I did a bunch of other tests through that day and two this morning. I didn't get out of my room until maybe 12 or 1 o'clock today. It was nice to be free and go walk out for a bit, get around and have lunch with a few guys. I felt very stressful, but happy that it came out negative."

Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal in almost 17 months and had an assist, Zach Sanford had a goal and an assist, and Binnington made 35 saves for St. Louis (14-8-5), which has lost three straight, all in overtime, but has a seven-game point streak (4-0-3).
"It's disappointing," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "Obviously it's close and you have a chance to get two more points, and you don't get them. It's frustrating that way ... but we stuck with it. It's unfortunate. I think we could have squeaked out two there, but the good thing is we have them tomorrow and it's a chance to respond and pull two points out of it."
The teams finish the back-to-back set here Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV).

Sanford tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 4:53 of the third period, tapping in the rebound of a Mike Hoffman shot.
David Perron's one-timer on the power play gave the Blues their first lead, 4-3, at 10:40, but Martinez tied it 4-4 47 seconds later at 11:27.
St. Louis cut it to 2-1 on O'Reilly's one-timer from the right circle at 5:14 of the second. Tomas Nosek restored Vegas' two-goal lead when he scored from the slot to make it 3-1 at 10:12.
Tarasenko tapped in a loose puck for first goal since Oct. 21, 2019, making it 3-2 at 13:36. The forward was playing his third game of the season after having left shoulder surgery for the third time in his NHL career Sept. 17.
"It's nice to score after that long break," Tarasenko said. "... Being honest here, it's a big game for me. First game home. Now my family is able to see me play, my kids and my wife. [To] be able to score a goal in front of them, they know it was a tough time. But like I said before, when you score and the team is winning, you have different emotions. But it was nice to get one."
Mark Stone gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 14:48 of the first period when he redirected Chandler Stephenson's pass from in tight. Marchessault made it 2-0 41 seconds later after the puck caromed into the slot, scoring with a backhand at 15:29.
NOTES: Stone has scored 12 points (three goals, nine assists) his past six games and 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 14 games against the Blues. ... Vegas won at St. Louis for the first time (1-4-0). The Blues have never lost to the Golden Knights in regulation (6-0-5). ... St. Louis defenseman Marco Scandella played his 600th NHL game. ... O'Reilly has scored 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 10 games against Vegas. ... It was Binnington's first game since he signed a six-year, $36 million contract Thursday.