The Vegas Golden Knights cashed in early when it took them just 19 seconds to score the first goal in the St Louis Blues’ 4-2 loss Thursday, Jan. 23 at the Enterprise Center.

Mark Stone blocked a pass by Cam Fowler in the Blues’ third and promptly sent his shot past Joel Hofer to open the scoring. A pair of former Blues players, Ivan Barbashev and Alex Petrangelo, set up Victor Olofsson’s goal eight minutes late to double Vegas’ advantage, before Jordon Kyrou got the Blues on the board with his 21st goal of the season. Vegas restored their advantage in the second period with a power play goal from Pavel Dorofeyev. The Blues made it a game late, when with Hofer pulled in favor of a sixth attacker, Robert Thomas tapped in a rebound to make it 3-2 Blues. However, Vegas would get the goal back as Tomas Hertl gnabbed the empty-net goal to put the game away.

Hofer saved 27 of 30 shot attempts, while Vegas goalie Ilya Samsonov only had to deal with 17 Blues shots, saving 15.

A Calgary win Thursday night means the Blues are once again three points behind the Flames for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, with the Flames continuing to enjoy a three-game cushion over the Blues. Dallas were idle and continue to hold onto a nine-point advantage for third in the Central Division. The Blues and Stars will face off Saturday night at 6 p.m. in St Louis.