3 takeaways: Knights hold off Blues, snap 4-game losing streak

The nightmare is over. The Golden Knights are back in the win column.

It lasted four games, but an 82-game season can do that to teams.

The Knights continued to say they were on the verge of turning things around. For one night they did, snapping their season-long four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

“I felt the calm in there,” left wing Victor Olofsson said. “There was no stress at all. We just kept playing the same way.”

Captain Mark Stone had a goal and an assist, and right wing Pavel Dorofeyev scored a power-play goal to give the Knights (30-14-4) their first win since Jan. 12 after going 0-3-1 in their previous four.

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 15 saves to snap a personal three-game losing streak.

“It just felt like we were never in trouble,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That’s what it seemed like on the bench.”

The Knights salvaged a split in the home-and-home with St. Louis. The Blues (23-22-4) won 5-4 in a shootout at T-Mobile Arena on Monday, a game in which the Knights needed to rally from two goals down in the third period to earn a point.

There wouldn’t be any late-game heroics this time. It only took 19 seconds from the initial puck drop to gain momentum, with Stone stripping St. Louis defenseman Cam Fowler of the puck and scoring on a mini-breakaway to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

It was the fifth-fastest goal in team history.

Olofsson pushed the lead to 2-0 at 8:54 of the first with a slot shot after a power play.

Playing with the lead was a rarity over the previous seven games. The Knights have spent most of this stretch playing from behind. They found a way to lock things down this time.

Even when Blues center Jordan Kyrou cut the lead to 2-1 1:38 after Olofsson’s goal, the Knights didn’t allow anything. St. Louis was held to eight total shots through two periods and didn’t have a shot on goal in the second period until the midway point.

“Defensively, we didn’t give up a lot,” Cassidy said.

Dorofeyev tacked on his team-leading 21st goal at 6:30 of the middle frame on a one-timer after receiving a pass by Stone from below the goal line, making it 3-1.

It was the closest thing to the Knights looking like their old selves in two weeks. They controlled play to the point where the goaltending — which Cassidy called out following Monday’s game — didn’t need to do much. Samsonov did enough on his part to preserve the win.

It’ll be Adin Hill’s turn Friday when the Knights wrap up the second leg of a back-to-back against the Dallas Stars. Momentum can be a funny thing, especially for a second time in 24 hours.

“Game-to-game momentum went the other way on us the past two weeks. Maybe tomorrow it’ll be a carry-over from tonight,” Cassidy said. “We are a very good team when we have momentum. It’s always good to manage your people when we have that.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Karlsson, Howden out

Center William Karlsson has been ruled week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the Knights announced Thursday morning.

The 32-year-old has 18 points in 38 games this season. He doesn’t have a point in his past seven games. He was given the day off from practice Tuesday, but Cassidy said Karlsson’s body didn’t respond as the team had hoped.

Karlsson missed the first eight games of the Knights’ season after aggravating a hamstring injury that hampered him in the playoffs. It’s unknown if his current injury is related to his previous one.

Karlsson’s absence could put his status for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off in question. He was named to Team Sweden for the four-team tournament that will take place Feb. 12-20 in Montreal and Boston.

Center Brett Howden (illness) is on the trip, but was also held out. The Knights recalled center Tanner Laczynski and winger Brendan Brisson from Henderson.

2. Road warrior

Whenever the Knights have needed a silencer on the road, Olofsson has been the one to provide it.

The winger became the first player in Knights history to reach a 10-game point streak on the road with his goal. He has seven goals and 14 points during this stretch.

Olofsson has been bumped off the top power-play unit in favor of Dorofeyev, but the two have also built a strong chemistry with center Tomas Hertl at five-on-five over the past few games.

“This has been our worst stretch here. Still, there’s no stress,” Olofsson said. “We know we’re a good team.”

3. No déjà vu

Blues coach Jim Montgomery made the bold call to pull goaltender Joel Hofer down two with six minutes remaining.

St. Louis nearly pulled off what the Knights did Monday. Center Robert Thomas scored with the extra attacker to make it 3-2 with 3:26 to go.

But the Knights thwarted any comeback attempt when Hertl scored an empty-netter with 27 seconds left.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.