Barron gets first career four-point game in Blues win against Golden Knights

ST. LOUIS -- Justin Barron had his first career four-point game for the St. Louis Blues in a 6-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

The Blues claimed Barron off waivers from the Nashville Predators on Sept. 27, and the defenseman has five points (one goal, four assists) in seven games.

“I feel good,” Barron said. “I feel like I'm just trying to build my game since I got here. The guys on the team have helped me a lot (and) just get comfortable. I feel like I'm a part of this team. It was a good, full effort for our team tonight to play a full 60 minutes here at home.

“I just wanted to come in (with) obviously a little bit of a clean slate. Obviously, there's been some injuries here and just try to come into the lineup and prove myself.”

Dylan Holloway scored two goals and added an assist, and Jimmy Snuggerud had a goal and an assist for the Blues (5-4-1), who won their second straight in a five-game home stand. Joel Hofer made 27 saves.

“When you play this game the right way, and that was the best game we’ve played since the (2025 Stanley Cup) Playoffs, it feels good because everybody contributed, the bench was alive,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “The energy on the bench was the best I’ve seen it in a long time and, when you’re doing things right, there’s a saying that the hockey gods reward you. We played the right way tonight.”

Brett Howden and Jack Eichel each scored for the Golden Knights (8-4-0), who lost their second in a row and played without forward Mitch Marner, who missed the game due to the birth of his second child. Adin Hill made 25 saves.

“Well, we were in between a little bit,” Vegas coach Ryan Craig said. “I think we're in between, and when you get in between, you either have to recover or you overcompensate, and that probably happened on a few things. We'll take a look at it and revisit it tomorrow and get ready. But for me, we didn't help ourselves probably as much as we could have. That's two games in a row of kind of putting ourselves in some tough situations. That's going to happen in a game, but we can't be a little bit hesitant and in between when you're trying to recover.”

Pavel Buchnevich’s power-play goal at 10:00 of the first period made it 1-0. Connor McMichael put a long-range shot on net that rebounded to Jonatan Berggren in front. He kicked it out to Buchnevich, who elevated it just underneath the bar.

Barron’s first goal since April 16, 2025, made it 2-0 at 13:49. An Otto Stenberg forecheck created a loose puck before Aleksanteri Kaskimaki found Barron coming down into the right circle, and the defenseman whipped a wrist shot in off the left post and in.

It was Barron's first goal for St. Louis, and Kaskimaki earned his first NHL point in seven career games.

“We were just forechecking with Otto and did a good job there, got the turnover from them and nice shot from Barron,” Kaskimaki said.

Howden's fourth goal in five games cut the St. Louis lead to 2-1 at 5:38 of the second period. Noah Hanifin's shot from the left point hit Howden's stick in front before he collected the rebound and tucked the puck behind Hill's left skate.

Mason McTavish restored the two-goal lead to 3-1 at 8:30 when he won a face-off in the offensive zone and went to the net before tipping Adam Jiricek's shot from the left point through Hill's legs.

Eichel made it 3-2 at 4:08 off a drive up the left-hand side. He tried to center the puck to Mark Stone at the back post, but the puck instead caromed in off the left skate of Blues defenseman Cam Fowler.

“We felt that we were playing (well) in the third period when (Eichel) scored, we felt we were dictating play,” Montgomery said. “It was a bad bounce, in our opinion. It went off our own skate. We’re boxing out and it goes in our net. You have to overcome stuff like this. That’s the Stanley Cup finalist. Saturday, we’re going to have the Stanley Cup winner (Carolina Hurricanes) here, so if you’re going to beat the best teams in the League, you’ve got to be able to overcome adversity and it was great to see how we responded. It’s two games in a row.”

Snuggerud’s third goal in as many games helped the Blues respond and again restored the two-goal lead to 4-2 at 8:21. He used Hanifin as a screen and beat Hill from distance with a wrister to the stick side.

“Well, I mean, every time we scored, they scored, right?” Eichel said. “So, sometimes in a night like that where, maybe, you might be fighting the puck, it's beneficial to be a little bit more simple and just try and get pucks in deep and get our forecheck going, and at times we did it in the second (period). But, obviously, over the course of the 60 (minutes), it just wasn't (there).”

Holloway made it 5-2 at 10:29 when he beat Hill with a wrister from the high slot off a Robert Thomas backhand feed, then scored again to make it 6-2 at 16:05. His power-play goal was scored with a one-timer from the low edge of the right circle off a Jake Neighbours' pass.

NOTES: The Blues have scored a power-play goal in five straight games (6-for-17) for the first time since Jan. 3-10, 2023. … Holloway has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak. … McTavish has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past eight games. He has recorded a point in eight of the Blues’ 10 games this season. … Vegas has played in four straight games decided by a 6-2 score, winning two and losing two (2-2-0). … Eichel has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games. … Howden has six points (four goals, two assists) in his past six games.