3 takeaways: Golden Knights get ‘mojo back,’ win 3rd straight — PHOTOS

The Vegas Golden Knights are starting to get hot again.

Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist to lead the Knights (20-11-12) to a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, the third straight game in which they have rallied from a deficit to pick up two points.

“We’re stacking some wins again, which is good,” said coach Bruce Cassidy, whose team had dropped eight of nine before the winning streak. “If we want to get back to where we want to be, we’re going to have to do that a bit.

“I think every game we’ve been behind and chasing it, but we’ve done a good job being resilient and chasing it the right way. It wasn’t like we were trading chances to get back in it. We chased the right way and got to our game fairly quickly.”

Marner answered a fluky early goal by the Blues (17-21-8) with an unassisted tally as he tapped in his own rebound right in front of the net midway through the first period.

“I thought we got our game back and our mojo back,” defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said of the winning streak. “We’re winning games and that’s the most important thing this time of year.”

Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore, who returned after missing a month with an upper-body injury, both scored from the outside in the second period as the Knights took control of a game that featured a fight after Mark Stone knocked Philip Broberg from the game with a big hit along the boards in the first period.

Akira Schmid bounced back after allowing a goal in the opening minute of the game on a strange bounce behind the net to make 17 saves in the victory.

Stone scored an empty-net goal to extend his scoring streak to seven games, tied for tops in the NHL this year and tied with Max Pacioretty for the longest in franchise history.

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Schmid steps up

It looked early on like it was definitely not going to be Schmid’s night.

Blues center Robert Thomas tried to dump a puck behind Schmid, who drifted left in his crease and turned over his left shoulder to see where the puck was going.

Only it never arrived. The puck took a wild bounce off the boards and right back to Thomas, who casually dumped it in the net before Schmid ever knew where the puck had gone, to give St. Louis a lead on its first shot.

Schmid didn’t allow another goal until a third-period power play as the Swiss Olympian earned his 13th win of the season in his 23rd game.

He may be counted on even more for a while as he becomes the de facto No. 1 goaltender with injuries to Adin Hill and Carter Hart.

“He just goes in and does his job,” Cassidy said. “Opportunity is knocking for him a little bit this year. It’s unfortunate for the guys getting hurt, but that’s the NHL sometimes. He’s going in there and doing what he can to stay in the lineup and get his starts. Good for him and we need it right now.”

2. Theodore returns

Theodore was back in the lineup Saturday night for the first time since Dec. 13 when he suffered an upper-body injury and was paired with Lauzon.

The Knights won just three times in 11 games without Theodore.

“It’s always hard when you’re watching and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Theodore said before the game. “Hopefully, I can bring some energy.”

Mission accomplished.

Theodore played a team-high 21:57 and scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second period.

“Felt good,” he said of his return. “Obviously the timing takes a little bit to come back, but my legs felt good and my body felt good.”

Cassidy believes Theodore’s absence has been felt most prominently in breakouts, transitions and the pace with which they play out of their defensive end.

“Netural zone, he’s certainly one of the best at springing guys on odd-man rushes,” Cassidy said. “Breaking out of our end clean, which bleeds into our rush game. He was doing a great job defensively with (now-injured Brayden McNabb). So, we’ve lost that whole pair and it puts a little more on (the rest of the group’s) plate. We’ve missed him there, as well.”

Forward Brandon Saad was out of the lineup with an upper-body injury and is considered day to day, though Cassidy has already ruled him out of Sunday’s game in San Jose, California. He was replaced Saturday night by Cole Reinhardt on the fourth line.

3. Quick turnaround

The Knights were off to the airport after the game for a flight to San Jose where they will play the Sharks at 5 p.m. Sunday.

While the Sharks (23-18-3) have a talented young core and are squarely in the mix for their first playoff appearance since 2019, the Knights have won all three meetings this season.

This will be the final meeting of the regular season.

San Jose has played well of late, winning three straight and six of seven including a 5-4 overtime home victory over Dallas on Saturday.

The Knights expect Carl Lindbom to make the start in net after he was recalled from Henderson of the AHL to replace Hart, who left Thursday’s win with a lower-body injury and has been listed as week to week.

Hill has been on the ice with the team at practice, but he has not been fully cleared to return from a lower-body injury suffered Oct. 20.

“Adin is skating with us, which is a positive,” Cassidy said of Hill. “He will not be available this weekend, but going forward he’s closer. We have an off day Monday and then Tuesday is a practice day when we might know a lot more if he joins us for a full practice. He’s getting there.”

Lindbom, 22, has made seven starts this year as a rookie for the Knights. He is 1-4-2 with an .870 save percentage and 3.14 goals against average.

“He got a taste of NHL shooters while he was here and was probably feeling good about the win he got,” Cassidy said. “He took that back to Henderson with him and has been playing well there.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.