Reilly Smith’s first career hat trick lifts Vegas to 4-1 win

<p>LAS VEGAS &mdash; Reilly Smith got his first career hat trick, Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday night.</p>
<p>Chandler Stephenson also scored for the Golden Knights, who moved into a tie with the Carolina Hurricanes for the most points (80) in the NHL.</p>
<p>Vegas extended its home winning streak to a season-high seven games. The Golden Knights meet the Colorado Avalanche on Monday in a matchup of the West Division’s top two teams, with the division title still up for grabs.</p>
<p>Fleury, fresh off a victory that gave sole possession of third place on the career wins list, has won eight straight games — none of which he has allowed more than two goals in.</p>
<p>Colton Parayko scored St. Louis’ lone goal. Rookie Ville Husso, making just his 16th career start and third against the Golden Knights, made 25 saves.</p>
<p>For the second straight night against the Blues, it was Smith opening the scoring with a close-range shot at the doorstep to give Vegas a 1-0 lead.</p>
<p>Shortly thereafter, former Blue Alex Pietrangelo picked off a pass and led a rush into the offensive zone, then delayed just long enough before feeding a gem to Stephenson for a one-timer past St. Louis’ rookie netminder.</p>
<p>The Blues struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm, as they didn’t get their first shot on goal until 16 minutes in and were outshot 10-3 in the first period. The three shots on goal tied for the fewest allowed by the Golden Knights in one period this season.</p>
<p>Nothing changed in the second as the Blues managed just four shots. Fortunately for them, their final attempt came when Parayko stripped Shea Theodore with a nifty stick lift behind the net and beat Fleury with a backhand past his blocker to breathe life into St. Louis just before the end of the period.</p>
<p>Smith got his second goal of the game on a power play in the third period, when he chipped home his own rebound, and notched his third with an empty netter with 48 seconds left in the game.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>St. Louis: Visits Los Angeles on Monday night.</p>
<p>Vegas: Hosts Colorado on Monday night.</p>
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