Table of Content
The Nashville Predators defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night in Las Vegas, ending the hosts’ five-game winning streak while pushing their own streak to seven games. Nashville erased a third-period deficit to secure its seventh comeback victory of the season, handing Vegas its first loss when leading after two periods this year.
Goaltending Duel in Las Vegas
Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced, registering a .952 save percentage and 1.71 goals saved above expected, according to sports.yahoo.com. His performance kept the Predators within striking distance despite heavy offensive pressure from Vegas throughout the first two periods.
At the other end of the ice, Vegas netminder Adin Hill made 30 saves on 32 shots, finishing with a .930 save percentage. Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig praised his performance after the game, stating, “Hilly played well. Hilly played very well. He made some real big saves for us, and I thought he was tracking the puck well.”
Third-Period Shift in Momentum
Vegas established early control, outshooting Nashville 19-10 in the opening period and maintaining a 34-20 shot advantage through 40 minutes. However, the Predators controlled the third period and overtime, outshooting Vegas 12-8 across the final 25 minutes of play. Nashville also generated seven high-danger scoring chances while restricting Vegas to just one during that span.
Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson noted that giveaways cost his team late in the game. “I thought we lost our game a little bit in the third,” said Andersson following the loss. “They were the better team in the third period, and it cost us one point tonight… We just didn’t take care of the puck. We had too many giveaways.”
Shootout Selections and Roster Stats
During the shootout, Trevor Connelly scored the only goal for Vegas. Craig has regularly featured younger players like Connelly and Braeden Bowman early in shootouts, a tactic that began earlier this season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Connelly has converted two of his three shootout attempts so far.
The Golden Knights continued to struggle with some of their established stars in the tiebreaker. Mitch Marner has converted two of nine attempts since joining Vegas, while Jack Eichel has missed on his last nine career attempts. Defenseman Shea Theodore, who holds a career 38.7% conversion rate in shootouts, was not selected to shoot against Nashville.
