On Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights played the second of a three-game homestand against the Nashville Predators. They took the lead at the end of the second period after two tightly contested periods. In the third period, they rattled off five goals in 9:20 for a feel-good, 7-2 win.
The Predators opened the scoring at 14:10 in the first. Jeremy Lauzon knocked Luke Evangelista off the puck, but Romas Josi intercepted Lauzon’s attempt at a bank pass. Josi cut through the zone, danced around Mark Stone, and fired a shot that went in off Evangelista.
In the second period, the Golden Knights seemed allergic to generating scoring chances, and even went 11:54 without recording a shot on goal. But at the end of the period, they exploded for two goals in 65 seconds.
The Golden Knights found the equalizer at 17:17 in the second. Shea Theodore found Alexander Holtz at the point, and Holtz’s shot deflected off Fedor Svechkov and into Nashville’s net.
The Golden Knights took their first lead of the night at 18:22 in the second period. Keegan Kolesar won a board battle and worked the puck back to the point for Jeremy Lauzon. Lauzon got it to Shea Theodore, who went top-shelf in his 600th career game.
The first five minutes of the third period were tightly contested. Then, the dam broke, and the wheels came off. The Predators lost all their fight, and the Golden Knights went on to score five goals in 9:20.
The Golden Knights extended their lead at 5:52 in the third period. Mitch Marner blocked Roman Josi’s shot and raced up ice in a 2-on-1 with Pavel Dorofeyev. Marner’s pass evaded Josi, and Dorofeyev slammed it home for his team-leading 20th goal of the season.
The Predators had a chance to get back into the game with a power play just 39 seconds later. Instead, the Golden Knights’ 10th-best penalty kill stood strong and held Nashville to just one shot on goal. Jack Eichel added the dagger 21 seconds after leaving the penalty box.
The Golden Knights made it a three-goal lead at 8:52 in the third. Jack Eichel cut through center ice, danced around Jonathan Marchessault, and found Mark Stone for an easy back-door tap-in.
That’s when the wheels fully came off for the Predators. The Golden Knights rattled off three goals in just 2:44 to add insult to injury and rub salt in the wound. Over that stretch, they scored on three of their four shots on net.
The Golden Knights added another at 12:26 in the third. Tanner Laczynski intercepted Nic Hague’s clearing attempt and found Alexander Holtz in the left circle. Holtz got the puck to Cole Reinhardt, who fired it home.
The Golden Knights scored their sixth goal of the night at 13:16 in the third. Mitch Marner raced up ice, played catch with Reilly Smith at the blue line, and entered the zone. He blew past Brady Skjei and fired a shot through Roman Josi and past Justus Annunen.
The Golden Knights added a seventh goal at 15:12 in the third. Tomáš Hertl found Keegan Kolesar alone atop the crease, and Kolesar tucked it home.
The Predators scored a late goal on the power play at 19:38 in the third. After playing catch with Ryan O’Reilly, Filip Forsberg beat Akira Schmid short-side with a wrister.
Forsberg’s goal came on the last shot of the game. Akira Schmid recorded 27 saves in a career-high 15th win of the season, and the Golden Knights won their seventh game in a row by a score of 7-2.
