Saros makes career-high 47 saves, Predators top Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS --Juuse Saros made an NHL career-high 47 saves for the Nashville Predators in a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

Saros is 4-1-0 in his past six games (five starts) with a .955 save percentage.
"I saw a lot of pucks. That's always nice," Saros said. "Most of them I got to see. The guys played good. A lot of pucks came from the outside, so I got lucky there."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Ryan Johansen scored in his return to the lineup after serving a two-game suspension for high-sticking Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele on Jan. 17 for Nashville (30-18-4), which has won two straight.
"They're a really good team, a fast team," Saros said. "It wasn't lucky that they were in the [Stanley Cup Final] last season."

Max Pacioretty scored for Vegas (29-19-4), which has lost two straight and three of its past four. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves in his 782nd NHL game, tying Mike Vernon for 19th in League history.
"I thought we limited them, especially against their top lines, in the second half of the game pretty well," Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "It's just one of those things. It's tough. It's tough right before the [All-Star break] to lose like that."
Pacioretty scored for the third straight game to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 8:03 of the first period, converting off a backhand cross-crease pass from Alex Tuch.
"I really liked the way we played tonight," Golden Knights assistant coach Mike Kelly said. "I thought we played pretty well. It doesn't always guarantee a win, and that's the tough part of it, but there's a lot to be encouraged about heading into the break."

Johansen scored 52 seconds into the second period to tie it 1-1. Fleury made the initial save on Roman Josi, but Johansen knocked in the loose puck after Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb tried to clear the rebound.
Nick Bonino gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 3:53, scoring into an open net from the slot.
"It was just a good bounce," Bonino said. "It's not easy to get them by [Fleury]. It's a good win. We needed a win to go into the break like that, have a good taste in our mouth and be ready to go."

They said it

"We wanted to finish strong in these last two road games and be happy about our game and taking a next step. I think these were good games and now we've just got to get better." -- Predators goalie Juuse Saros
"I thought [Saros] was pretty good. We had a lot of really good looks. I thought we played hard and played a pretty good game. He was excellent." -- Golden Knights assistant coach Mike Kelly

Need to know

Tuch leads Vegas with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 44 games this season. ... Predators defenseman P.K. Subban is five points from 400 in the NHL. … Saros is 3-0-0 against the Golden Knights with one shutout and a .983 save percentage. … Golden Knights defenseman Nick Holden did not play due to an undisclosed injury and is day to day. Jon Merrill replaced him and was minus-1 in 16:59 of ice time. … Golden Knights forward Paul Stastny had an assist on Pacioretty's goal to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, six assists). … Golden Knights forward Brandon Pirri has been held without a point in his past three games after scoring 13 (eight goals, five assists) in his first 11 games.

What's next

Predators: At the Florida Panthers on Feb. 1 (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights:At the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 1 (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)