Predators defeat Golden Knights, spoil Thompson's first NHL start

LAS VEGAS -- Filip Forsberg scored twice, and the Nashville Predators held on to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

"I think the battle effort was there. We showed up right from the get-go and played hard," said Forsberg, who has four multigoal games this season. "It was a physical game [and] I think that was the stickler of our game."
Yakov Trenin scored for Nashville (21-11-2), which is 8-1-1 in its past 10 games. Juuse Saros made 41 saves for his seventh win in his past eight starts.
"To win in this league, you have to have excellent goaltending and we have that with [Saros]," Predators coach John Hynes said.

Logan Thompson made 23 saves in his first NHL start for Vegas (22-13-1). Thompson, the winner of last season's Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award given to the American Hockey League's outstanding goaltender, started with Robin Lehner (lower body) and Laurent Brossoit (upper body) out with injuries. Dylan Ferguson was the backup.
"Four years ago, I was [at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario," Thompson said. "I think that's why I was just trying to soak it all in. It was really exciting."
William Karlsson had a goal and an assist, and Shea Theodore scored for the Golden Knights, who are 2-2-1 in their past five games after winning their previous five.
Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:41 of the second period when he received a pass from Mikael Granlund, skated to the top of the left circle and hit the top right corner of the net.
Trenin made it 2-0 at 7:01 when he deflected a point shot from Philippe Myers. The assist was Myers' first point with Nashville since being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on July 17, 2021.
"They buckled down and really outcompeted us for long stretches early in that game, really pushed us to the outside of the rink, and won a lot of battles," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "We didn't respond early enough or for long enough."
Forsberg scored his second goal at 6:08 of the third period to make it 3-0. After forcing a turnover, he powered past Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo before flipping the puck to himself and finishing with the backhand past Thompson.

Karlsson cut it to 3-1 at 12:01. It was his first goal in eight games and 100th with the Golden Knights.
"It means a lot. I've wanted this for a while now, this 100th," Karlsson, who was selected from the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, said. "It feels good to get a greasy one to get it over with. My time here as a Golden Knights has been fantastic. This has become a home."
Theodore made it 3-2 at 18:14 on a shot from the point with Thompson pulled for the extra skater.
"You look at the 6-1 win [against the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 1] and you feel like everything is great, but there's definitely things we could've done better in that game. Today was more of a complete effort," Forsberg said. "They put on a shooting clinic toward the end where we fought off pretty good, I think. That was a step up from the Chicago game."
NOTES:Forsberg's multigoal game was the 28th of his career, the most among players selected in the 2012 NHL Draft. San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl is second with 22. … Saros improved to 4-2-1 against the Golden Knights. … Trenin played his 100th NHL game. … Karlsson joined Jonathan Marchessault (108) as the only other player to reach 100 goals with the Golden Knights. … Thompson went undrafted and signed with Vegas as a free agent on July 13, 2020. He entered Tuesday's game with one career appearance, coming on in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury on March 10, 2021, against the Minnesota Wild. Thompson stopped both shots he faced.