Vladimir Tarasenko broke a tie midway through the third period in St. Louis' 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.

Tarasenko's tenure with the St. Louis Blues was a hot topic during the offseason after he requested a trade earlier in the summer, and again after the team left the 29-year-old winger unprotected in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.

The organization might be thankful he's still wearing a Blues sweater.

Brandon Saad and Ivan Barbashev added goals for the Blues. St. Louis won all three games on its season-opening trip, also beating Colorado 5-3 and Arizona 7-4.

William Karlsson opened the scoring for the Golden Knights, and Robin Lehner made 35 saves.

After averaging 30.5 shots on goal in their first two games, the Blues fired 38 on net Wednesday.

It was a critical mistake that cost Vegas, incidentally by former Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo.

On the tiebreaking goal, Pietrangelo turned the puck over in the neutral zone with a blind pass, giving the Blues a 3-on-0 rush. Taking a pass from Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou fed Tarasenko for a one-timer past Lehner with 10:11 to play.

Vegas, meanwhile, played its first game without top-line forwards Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, who are both injured.

The Blues host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night for its home opener.