Forsberg Tallies Twice as Preds Start Trip with Victory in Vegas

The Predators put on their own show in Sin City.
Filip Forsberg tallied twice as Nashville defeated the Vegas Golden Knights by a 3-2 final on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The result gives the Preds wins in two straight outings to begin the new year with a satisfying road win to start their three-game trip.
Yakov Trenin also found the back of the net in the victory, and goaltender Juuse Saros stopped 41 Vegas shots as Nashville regained the top spot in the Central Division.

The opening 20 minutes didn't yield any results on the scoreboard, but the Preds converted in the second stanza, and a classic snipe from Forsberg came first. Mikael Granlund found the winger for his 25th helper of the season, and Forsberg snapped a shot over the shoulder of Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson for a 1-0 lead.

Then, less than five minutes later, defenseman Philippe Myers recorded his first point as a member of the Preds as Trenin tipped in his point shot into the twine for a two-goal advantage through 40 minutes of play.
Forsberg's second tally - and arguably one of the best of his career - came at the 6:08 mark of the third period when he lofted the puck to himself past defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and then deked out Thompson to put the Preds up by three.
Vegas made things interesting down the stretch with two goals in the final eight minutes of regulation, but Saros and the Predators held on just long enough for win No. 21 on the campaign.

Tuesday Storyline:

Filip Forsberg was simply filthy on Tuesday night in Vegas.
In particular, to try and describe the second of his two goals - somehow miles better than his first of the night - with the English language simply wouldn't do it justice. Instead, it's best to sit back and enjoy one of the great moments of his career, and then hear him describe it as if it was just another night doing what he does.

"The second one, just tried to block the shot and got a piece of it and it bounced right for me," Forsberg said. "And after that I just tried to take it wide and let the hands do the rest."
Equipped with some of the silkiest mitts in the game, as hockey slang would say, Forsberg's hands certainly came through and helped to deliver a satisfying result against a Vegas team that all of a sudden sees the Preds just one point behind in the rearview for the top spot in the Western Conference.
"Some of the improvements that we wanted to make just with our checking game without the puck, I thought we did a good job," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "We were just a lot tighter and quicker when we didn't have the puck as a five-man unit. And then I thought offensively, we had some good looks. We knew tonight was going to be a real fast, physical game against a really good team, and I thought we were mentally and physically ready to play."
"I think the battle effort was there," Forsberg said. "I mean, we showed up right from the get go and played hard. I don't know how many hits we ended up with, but it was a physical game; we obviously brought a lot of that to them, too. And I think that was the staple of our game tonight."
The Predators, led by Tanner Jeannot and Luke Kunin with seven hits each, registered a stunning 55 hits to Vegas' 34 in a contest that saw both teams challenging each other physically again and again. Nashville never backed down, instead controlling that aspect of the game, a direct contributing factor to the success.

"[Physical play is] a very big aspect of our game, and it's not only our line, it's everybody hitting and everybody finishing checks, playing hard, playing for each other," Trenin said. "Today was very important because we are just so active, we always jump, so we need to finish the play, keep them out of the play and do everything for the win."
And then there was Saros with another 40-plus save performance and doing everything he could to give his team a chance to win, just like he does every night.
"Oh, the biggest reason by far [for our success]," Forsberg said of Saros. "Obviously, we're playing really hard in front of him and we're doing a lot of good things, but… I mean, [he's] just the best goalie in the League, and we're really lucky to have him."
All in all, not a bad start to an excursion that could see the Preds continue to establish themselves as one of the best in the West.
"It was a huge game for us," Trenin said. "We know Vegas is a very fast team... So it was important to finish our checks, to track back, get the win and start the road trip on a good note."

Highlight of the Night:

They Said It:

Yakov Trenin on scoring a goal in his 100th NHL game:
"It doesn't feel like it at all, it feels like I'm still a rookie - time flies so fast. And yeah, good goal. I moved the play to Myers and just kept my stick on the ice and he hit it exactly in the right spot."

Notes:

Prior to Tuesday's game, the Predators recalled forwards Michael McCarron and Matt Luff from the taxi squad and added forward Tommy Novak to the active roster after missing three games due to COVID protocol.
Novak, as well as forward Philip Tomasino and defenseman Ben Harpur, were scratched on Tuesday, and defenseman Dante Fabbro missed his second game due to COVID protocol.
Trenin skated in his 100th career game, all with Nashville.
The Predators will continue their three-game road trip on Thursday when they meet the Kings in Los Angeles before finishing on Saturday night in Arizona.