Patera stops 30 in NHL debut, Golden Knights recover to defeat Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Jiri Patera made 30 saves in his NHL debut, and Pavel Dorofeyev had his first NHL goal and assist for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Sunday.

"I'm glad we got the win," Patera said. "Towards the end it was a little bit scary, but we got the job done and I'm pretty sure we're all happy. Guys made it really comfortable, they made it real easy for me. Good win."

William Karlsson had a goal and an assist in his 600th NHL game, and Alex Pietrangelo also had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (41-20-6), who have won three straight and were playing the second of a back to back following a 4-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Vegas moved three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for first in the Pacific Division.
"For playing four in six days, the mental fatigue, the travel, we did a good job," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the Blues (29-32-5), who were also playing teh second of a back to back following a 5-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
"Obviously, the energy was there, the passion, the fight was there," St. Louis defenseman Torey Krug said. "We came up short."
Karlsson put the Golden Knights ahead 1-0 at 8:05 of the first period, getting to a loose puck in the crease and finishing with a backhand past Binnington's outstretched glove.
The play was created by Dorofeyev, who forechecked St. Louis defenseman Nick Leddy into a turnover.
"He was on the puck a lot," Cassidy said of Dorofeyev. "He created a turnover on the first goal with foot speed. I thought on his off wing he was able to get in on the inside a lot, to be dangerous there, went into traffic. He was kind of slippery around there."

Jakub Vrana tied it 1-1 at 13:26 on a power play, roofing a shot in the slot after taking a feed from behind the net by Kyrou.
Jonathan Marchessault scored 28 seconds into the second period to give Vegas a 2-1 lead, scoring on a shot from the bottom of the right circle through Binnington's pads.
Michael Amadio then followed up a rebound in the slot to push it to 3-1 at 2:10.
"One was a tough bounce off the rebound, right to the guy," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "For me, we weren't tight enough, just not assertive enough right away."

Kyrou cut it to 3-2 at 15:19 with a one-timer from the left circle off a rush play. It was his 30th goal of the season, an NHL career high.
"He's got a lot of ability and a lot of potential," Berube said. "I don't think he's hit his ceiling yet at all. I think there's still room for improvement. I think he will improve."
Tyler Pitlick tied it 3-3 at 3:41 of the third period, but Dorofeyev, who was playing in his sixth NHL game, put Vegas back in front 4-3 at 5:23 when an errant puck hit him in the head and deflected past Binnington.
"They scored early on us, they made a nice play," Cassidy said. "We dug in and worked hard to get the next goal. Happy for 'Pav.' I thought he had a really good game. Scores off his head, that's one to remember."
Pietrangelo scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
NOTES: St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (four goals, 11 assists). ... Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev was plus-1 in 19:10 of ice time in his first game against the Blues since being acquired from St. Louis on Feb. 26. ... Pietrangelo has five points (one goal, four assists) during a three-game point streak. ... Kyrou has six points (four goals, two assists) during a three-game point streak. ... Blues center Robert Thomas had an assist and has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak. ... Vegas forward Reilly Smith had two assists and has six points (two goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.