ST. LOUIS _ Oskar Sundqvist, back in the lineup after missing six games to an injury, breathed life into the Blues on Thursday, assisting on one goal, scoring another and making his presence felt up and down the ice as the Blues snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Vegas at Enterprise Center.
It was a good start to a four-game homestand for the Blues, and pushed them back ahead of Colorado for first in the Central Division (though Colorado has played two fewer games and it's December).
Jordan Binnington, in his first start since the first time he had been pulled from a regular-season game, faced 27 shots in the win. He still hasn't lost three straight games in the NHL.
Sundqvist tipped in a shot by Alex Pietrangelo 1:34 into the second period to get things started. It was the ninth goal of the season for Sundqvist and, if you consider that he had two goals in his previous game with Tampa Bay before leaving with an injury, he had a hat trick in the past 60 minutes the Blues had played with him active.
That got them even and from there, the Blues just dominated the period, spending long stretches in the Vegas zone, cycling, cycling, cycling, keeping the puck and generating chance after chance. The Blues ended up outshooting Vegas 17-8 in the period and a 24-15 edge in shot attempts .
More goals seemed inevitable, and this time, they were. With 5:07, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped a backhand shot by Brayden Schenn, but the rebound came to Jaden Schwartz, who buried it for his ninth goal of the season to keep even with Sundqvist for third on the team in scoring.
Thirty-nine seconds later, Robert Thomas skated the puck into the Vegas zone, parked near Fleury and picked his spot, going under Fleury's right arm and in. It was the first goal for Thomas since Nov. 6, 15 games ago.
The third period wasn't as dominating, but the Blues held their ground and killed off a late penalty on Justin Faulk to effectively put the game away.
The Blues jumped out to a 1-0 lead but then gave up two goals and finished the first period down 2-1.
Sundqvist, in his first game back after missing six with a lower-body injury, was a terror, forcing turnovers, making plays and generally looking a player sorely missed by the Blues in the past two weeks.
He set up the first goal, digging a puck out of the corner, feeding Jacob de la Rose who then set up a charging Mackenzie MacEachern for Double Mac's fifth goal of the season.
But on the very next shift, just 25 seconds later, the Golden Knights quickly moved the puck up ice out of their own end. Max Pacioretty was alone on the right wing and came in on goalie Jordan Binnington, who stopped his initial shot, but Pacioretty poked in the rebound.
With 7:32 to go in the period, Vegas took the lead. The Blues couldn't get the puck out of their own end. Nate Schmidt took a shot that ex-Blue Ryan Reaves tipped in the crease and as the puck was rolling toward the net, William Carrier, a Blues draft pick, tapped it in.
The Blues had to kill off a penalty late in the period. They didn't have a power play.
Vegas outshot the Blues 13-8, with Jordan Kyrou having three of the eight shots on goal.
