Luke Evangelista and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, but the Predators fell to the Vegas Golden Knights by a 7-2 final on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. The result sees the Preds split their back-to-back road trip after Friday’s win at Colorado, but a five-goal third period for Vegas certainly wasn’t the desired outcome.
“It definitely got away from us,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “The first period, they had a lot of really good looks, a lot of chances. They kind of dominated… I felt like we got the game a little better in the second and…then we just kind of stopped defending, and we can't do that.”
Evangelista got Nashville on the board first when he tipped home a Roman Josi shot later in the opening period, and that score held until Vegas tallied twice in the final three minutes of the second stanza for a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes of play.
The Golden Knights then added five more in the third before Forsberg scored late for the final goal of the night, but it was much too late for the Predators.
“You learn that there's a certain way we have to play, and even if we're down a goal or two, that doesn't mean we have to change the game,” Josi said. “And I felt like we did that. I felt like we started doing things that are not normal for us, not normal for our game, and they made us pay. And it doesn't really matter what the result is. Even if we play our game, we're going to get our looks and we just gave up way too much.”
From here, the Preds will head back home for three games at Bridgestone Arena, and while they did collect one win on their challenging two-game trip, they’ll be eager for a chance to get back into the win column after Saturday’s result.
“We played two really good teams, obviously won last night, and wish we had a better showing tonight,” Josi said. “But I think tonight showed us again that we know how we have to play. We know what it takes to win, the way we have to play, and when we get away from that we're not going to be successful. So, it was a good lesson.”
Notes:
The Predators activated winger Jonathan Marchessault from Injured Reserve on Saturday, and the former Golden Knight returned to the Nashville lineup. Defenseman Andreas Englund was reassigned to Milwaukee (AHL) prior to Saturday’s game, and winger Matthew Wood was a healthy scratch against the Golden Knights.
Ryan O’Reilly skated in his 1,200th NHL game.
With their back-to-back trip now complete, the Preds will head back to Tennessee to begin a three-game homestand when they host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.
