Evangelista Scores Magnificent Goal as Preds Beat Maple Leafs

The Predators prevailed in one heck of a hockey game on Saturday night - and Luke Evangelista stole the show.

The Nashville winger recorded one of the more impressive goals in recent memory as he helped his club to a 5-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bridgestone Arena. The result gets the Preds back in the win column and gives them a split of the season series against the Leafs.

Erik Haula, Adam Wilsby, Steven Stamkos and Cole Smith also found the back of the net for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 19 saves in the win - but it was Evangelista’s tally that had everyone talking by the end of the night.

“That was one of the nicer goals I've ever seen - but don't tell him,” Bunting smiled. “No, that was great. He's so gifted skillwise, and he sees the ice so well. He’s really good at slowing the puck down and making plays. And that one, he just put the jets on and used his toe drag, and the rest was history. That was a really nice goal.”

“Yeah, it was a little much, that celly,” Evangelista smiled, recalling his celebration. “Honestly, I just kind of blacked out. I should probably behave a little bit more. But, yeah, in a moment like that, the adrenaline just gets the best of you. I just kept saying, ‘Oh my God.’ I couldn't believe it.”

Toronto had a 1-0 advantage after one period of play courtesy of a goal from Nicolas Roy less than two minutes into the contest. But, on a power play in the second stanza, Haula tipped a Roman Josi point shot past Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll to even the score.

The visitors retook the lead when John Tavares deflected a shot into the twine, but before the middle period was out, Wilsby took a feed from Ryan O’Reilly and buried a wrister from the slot for a 2-2 tie through 40 minutes of play.

And then, midway through the final frame, Evangelista went to work against his hometown club.

After taking a pass in the neutral zone, the Ontario native moved around one challenger before streaking into the Toronto end, deking around a defender from forehand to backhand and then, while falling to the ice, roofed a shot into the cage to send the Nashville crowd into a frenzy.

“I kind of threw my hands on my head,” Haula said of Evangelista’s goal. “I mean, I think Luke said it himself many times on the ice. The ‘OMG’ was thrown a few times by himself. So, great goal, such a critical time in the game, and then being able to close it out, just a good feeling.”

“I'm not really surprised with the skill,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of Evangelista. “I kind of see it. I think the moment was big… It’s fun to watch a player grow in front of our eyes, and he's getting more confident, feeling more comfortable every game. I've always known he'd make those plays. It was fun to see him during a big moment. And I know, obviously a Canadian, Toronto boy, Hockey Night In Canada against the Leafs, I don't think it gets any better than that.”

Stamkos added an empty netter, and even though the Leafs got back to within one with the goaltender pulled once more, Smith iced it with a score of his own to finish the night - and one of the more entertaining outings of the season.

“Saturday night in Smashville - it was a fun game to play in…and be a part of,” Brunette said. “I thought the crowd was electric. That was a really fun, entertaining hockey game, either way. It's big to get the win. We haven't had all that many great feelings this year. We're starting to get a few more great feelings, and tonight was a great feeling.”

The Predators were enjoying the win for a moment - and deservedly so - but the focus had already begun to shift to a meeting with the New York Rangers less than 24 hours from now.

Four points in the standings are better than two, and the Preds would love nothing more than to replicate this feeling again - one that they’ve had more often than not as of late.

“There's still a lot [of games] to go here, but I think we're responding well,” Bunting said. “We’ve definitely [had] more wins than losses [lately], so that's good, but we’ve just got to keep building. Next game's a new game, and that's our motto, and that's our mindset. Put this one behind us - enjoy it tonight - but tomorrow's a whole new day.”

“They're not all going to be pretty…but we're just trying to find ways to get points, keep climbing,” Evangelista said. “Obviously, they get the first one there, but we were able to battle back and [have] a huge third period. I mean, they’re desperate, we’re desperate - we had to match that desperation. Fortunately, we did, and we were able to get a big win there in the third.”

Notes:

Jonathan Marchessault did not play on Saturday and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Tyson Jost rejoined the Nashville lineup as a result, and the Preds had no healthy scratches against the Leafs.

Per NHL PR, Steven Stamkos factored on a game-tying goal for the 226th time in his career and tied John Tavares for the seventh-most instances among active players. Sidney Crosby leads the list with 314.

Stamkos (1g-1a) recorded his 1,209th career point and tied Bernie Nicholls for 50th place in NHL history.

Nashville’s back-to-back weekend set concludes tomorrow evening when they host the New York Rangers for the final home game of the 2025 calendar year inside Bridgestone Arena.