Jonathan Marchessault scored during a wild opening minute of overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday that strengthened the defending Stanley Cup champions' bid for a play-off spot.

Marchessault's goal came just 19 seconds after Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson denied Pavel Buchnevich on a penalty shot that the Blues were awarded when Knights' defenseman Noah Hanifin tripped Buchnevich from behind 30 seconds into overtime.

Thompson recorded 31 saves in Vegas' third straight win, which increased the Golden Knights' lead on St. Louis to five points for the Western Conference's final wild-card berth.

The Blues lost for just the second time in their last eight games, but still managed to pick up a point when Brandon Saad knocked in a cross-ice pass from Brayden Schenn to tie the game at 1-1 with 5:07 left in regulation.

Vegas' Pavel Dorofeyev had the game's lone goal up to that point, a close-range attempt he powered past St. Louis netminder Jordan Binnington 5:59 into the contest.

Binnington regrouped to stop all 12 shots he faced in the second period and finished with 32 saves.

Kings hold on to edge Canucks for fourth straight win

The Los Angeles Kings were able to maintain a two-point edge over Vegas for third place in the Pacific Division by hanging on for a 3-2 win over the first-place Vancouver Canucks.

Anže Kopitar had a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot came up with 21 saves as Los Angeles extended its winning streak to four games.

The Kings took a 3-1 lead when Blake Lizotte and Kopitar scored less than two minutes apart late in the second period, but Vancouver fought back to make it a one-goal game when Brock Boeser's shot deflected off Kopitar and trickled past Talbot with 2:53 left to play.

Vancouver had a chance to draw even when Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty received a tripping penalty with 21 seconds remaining, but the Kings held on with the Canucks pulling goaltender Casey DeSmith for a 6-on-4 advantage.

Kevin Fiala's 24th goal of the season gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 7:01 in, but Vancouver drew even when Sam Lafferty stuffed the puck past Talbot with 7:10 to go in the first period.

DeSmith had 16 saves for the Canucks, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

Logan Thompson stopped 32 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights held on for a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday to snap a four-game losing streak.

Jack Eichel, Michael Ammadio and Williams Karlsson scored for Vegas, which tied Vancouver for first place in the Pacific Division.

Thompson bounced back after he allowed four goals on Anaheim’s first nine shots during a 5-2 loss to the Ducks on Wednesday.

Anže Kopitar had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles, which lost on the road in regulation for just the second time this season (13-2-1).

Svechnikov, Fast power Hurricanes

Andrei Svechnikov had a hat trick and Jesper Fast scored twice to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Svechnikov tallied his first goal of the night 1:35 into the first period and snapped a tie with 6:09 remaining in the third. He completed his third career hat trick with an empty-net goal with 18.9 seconds to play.

Sebastian Aho had four assists and Brent Burns set up three scores for Carolina, which has points in eight of its last nine games (5-1-3).

Flyers score 3 quick goals to beat Canucks

Egor Zamula, Sean Walker and Joel Farabee scored in the second period and Samuel Ersson made 18 saves before leaving as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1.

Ersson allowed only Teddy Blueger’s goal 25 seconds into the third period before leaving shortly after due to dehydration. Carter Hart stopped all eight shots the rest of the way.

Vancouver suffered its first loss in 10 games (7-1-2).