The Vegas Golden Knights had the better of the play for long stretches Friday night, but the Nashville Predators kept hanging around long enough to steal the finish.
Vegas carried a 2-1 lead into the third period at home, only for Nashville to flip the script late, tie the game midway through the final frame, and then win 3-2 in the shootout. It snapped the Golden Knights’ five-game winning streak and gave the Predators their seventh comeback win of the season.
The result also changed one clean little number for Vegas: the Golden Knights were 10-0-0 when leading after the second period. After Friday, they’re 10-0-1.
Juuse Saros was a major reason the game reached that point. Vegas fired 42 shots on goal and Saros turned aside all but two, finishing with 40 saves, a .952 save percentage, and 1.71 goals saved above expected.
“Obviously, he’s a really good goalie,” said Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson. “Can we create more traffic and chaos, like they did on us in the third? For sure.”
Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig had a similar read on the night, praising his own goaltender while also acknowledging the chances were there early.
“Hilly played well,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig. “Hilly played very well. He made some real big saves for us, and I thought he was tracking the puck well.”
The first two periods belonged to Vegas in the shot count and, for the most part, in the flow of the game. After one period, the Golden Knights led 19-10 in shots. After two, they were up 34-20.
But the third period told a different story. Craig said the team’s attack dried up once Nashville pushed back.
“Through two periods, we generated some looks. We had some opportunities,” said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig following the shootout loss.
“In the third, we had the two looks from the slot… After they tied it, I think we had one more shot. So, we didn’t generate enough.”
The underlying chances followed the same pattern. Vegas produced 16 high-danger scoring chances in the first two periods while allowing seven. Over the final 25 minutes, Nashville generated seven high-danger chances and held Vegas to one.
“We were just having to punt the puck,” said Craig. “We didn’t get our feet going.
We didn’t use our support to exit to kind of gain territory and chip away at territory. Therefore, they got the territory and were able to keep coming.”
The shootout also brought back a familiar Golden Knights wrinkle: Craig’s choices in the tiebreaker. A little over a month ago, he drew attention by sending Trevor Connelly and Braeden Bowman out first in a shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and both scored in a 4-3 win. He stuck with that approach again Friday, and Connelly delivered the only Golden Knights shootout goal.
That fits the larger pattern. The Golden Knights keep leaning on their top options in the shootout, and the numbers attached to those choices are hard to ignore.
Mitch Marner is 13-for-43 (30.2%) in his career, but has gone just two-for-nine as a Golden Knight. Jack Eichel is 13-for-49 (26.5%) in his career and has not scored on his last nine shootout attempts.
Shea Theodore, meanwhile, owns a career shootout mark of 12-of-31 (38.7%!), but he was not used against Nashville.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Fans Will Feel Alex Tuchs Emotional Message
Alex Tuch recently shared a deeply personal note of gratitude for the medical staff at Sisters Hospital in Buffalo, praising the doctors and nurses who helped save his newborn son. The former Golden Knights winger, now with the Washington Capitals, said the hospital team gave his family the kind of care that changes everything, and the message carried extra weight for anyone who remembers Tuchs years in Vegas and Buffalo.
The story is a reminder that some of the most meaningful moments around an NHL career happen far away from the rink. Tuchs update offered a rare glimpse into the family side of the game, and it underscored just how much the support of a hospital staff can matter when a young life is hanging in the balance. [Read more 🡒]
Adin Hill Faces Added Pressure As Golden Knights Host Surging Predators
Adin Hill is set to get the net again as the Golden Knights welcome the Nashville Predators to T-Mobile Arena, a matchup that comes with a little more weight than a typical regular-season start. Hill has given Vegas a steady early-season lift, opening with a 7-2-0 record and better numbers than he posted a year ago, which has helped stabilize a team that continues to lean on strong goaltending as part of its identity.
The timing matters because Nashville arrives playing better hockey and the Golden Knights are also dealing with the usual pregame churn of projected lineups and injury updates on both sides. For Hill, this is another chance to reinforce that the early returns are real, and for Vegas, it is the kind of home game that can quietly shape how much pressure builds around the crease as the schedule moves forward. [Read more 🡒]
Predators Streak Faces Its Toughest Test Yet Against Vegas
A hot Nashville team rolls into Las Vegas carrying real momentum, and the timing makes this one of the more intriguing matchups on the schedule. The Predators have steadied themselves with a six-game winning streak, and the recent addition of Shane Wright has given their attack another layer since he arrived.
Vegas, meanwhile, has answered its own rough patch with four straight wins, a stretch that has featured strong work from Ivan Barbashev and Victor Olofsson. The Golden Knights have started to look more like themselves again, which is why this meeting feels like a useful measuring stick for both clubs, especially with the betting market leaning toward a lower-scoring game. [Read more 🡒]