Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Blog: Predators too much for Golden Knights as Vegas falls at home

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Steve Marcus

Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) celebrates with teammates after scoring past Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the second period of a game at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019.

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 | 9:39 p.m.

The Golden Knights gave up a goal in the first four minutes of all three periods Tuesday and could not overcome a three-goal second period in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas trailed 4-2 entering the third period and didn't do itself any favors. The penalty kill, which entered the night with a league-high 95.5% success rate, could only be asked to do so much.

Minutes after killing a leftover too-many-men call from the second period, Brayden McNabb got the gate for holding in the third. After keeping Nashville off the board on its first four power plays, Nick Bonino tipped a Kyle Turris blast to make it 5-2 at the 4-minute mark.

Bonino was the fifth Predator to score. Turris opened the scoring with a deflection of his own in the first, then Colton Sissons, Calle Jarnkrok and Filip Forsberg all got in on the fun in the second period.

The Golden Knights scored both of their goals in the first, tying the game on a Mark Stone power-play goal then grabbing a brief 2-1 lead on a Reilly Smith putback. The goals were the fifth of the season for both players, sharing the team lead.

It was a tough night for Marc-Andre Fleury, whose five goals surrendered was the most in a game for him since Feb. 22 against the Winnipeg Jets. The goals weren't necessarily his fault — two were deflections, after all — but the Forsberg goal came after a misplay behind the net.

Mark Stone dropped the gloves with Roman Josi in the first period, and Max Pacioretty did the same with Dan Hamhuis in the third, making Tuesday the first regular season game in the team's history with more than one fight.

Nashville led in shots on goal for the game, 39-35.

Rough second period puts Golden Knights in hole after 2

Just like they did in the first, the Predators struck early in the period against Vegas in the second. This time it was Colton Sissons, who was denied on his first attempt at a back-handed wrap-around, but picked up the rebound and lifted it over Marc-Andre Fleury and into the net just 44 seconds after the period started.

This time though, the Predators didn't stop at one goal, or even two. Next up after the Sissons goal was Calle Jarnkrok, who watched Viktor Arvidsson dangle around Jon Merrill behind the Vegas net, then took Arvidsson's feed and one-timed a rocket by Fleury.

The next goal was all Fleury. The Vegas goalie played the puck behind the net, fumbled it a little then tried to pass it away, but instead gave it right to Nashville. Filip Forsberg collected the turnover and put it into the empty net at 6:53. The two goals came 1:44 apart and put the Predators up 4-2.

Vegas had one power play in the period. It managed three shot attempts, but the team's streak of power-play attempts ending in goals ended at four when the Golden Knights did not score. They also went scoreless on their second power play of the period.

The Predators led the second period in shots on goal 12-9, but the Golden Knights led 27-22 for the game.

Top scorers deliver as Golden Knights lead Predators after 1

Nashville jumped out to an early lead, but Vegas' top two scorers answered and the Golden Knights finished the first period with a 2-1 lead over the Predators.

The Predators appeared to make a concerted effort to get traffic in front of Marc-Andre Fleury. Early on they took a few point shots with forwards screening, and it led to their first goal. Ryan Ellis was particularly active early from the Nashville blue line, and Kyle Turris got a stick on his shot for a deflection goal and a 1-0 lead at 2:14 of the first.

One game after going 3-for-3 on the power play, Vegas' special teams struck again. It was the same group that scored tonight too, as Mark Stone finished a perfect no-look feed from Cody Glass for his fifth goal and 10th point of the season. Paul Stastny also had an assist on the goal at 9:55.

Not to be outdone by Stone's team-leading fifth of the year, Reilly Smith chipped in his fifth as well. Jonathan Marchessault had the initial shot on the rush, and Smith picked up the rebound off a Dan Hamhuis block to make it 2-1 Vegas with 2:37 left in the frame.

Stone kept the fireworks going by dropping the gloves with Roman Josi less than a minute after the Smith goal, leaving him an assist shy of the famed Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Vegas' league-best penalty kill was also strong in its only chance, killing its 22nd penalty in 23 tries. The Golden Knights led in shots on goal, 18-10.

Golden Knights bring new confidence into battle with Nashville

At this time a year ago, the Golden Knights were in a different place than they are now. On Oct. 15, 2018, the Golden Knights were 2-3-0 with one of their wins in a shootout and the other by a 1-0 final. They had a minus-9 goal differential if you don't count the goal they got credited for in the shootout, and better days were still a month away.

Today, Vegas looks like one of hockey's best teams. The Golden Knights are 4-2-0 with a plus-10 goal differential that is best in the Western Conference and second-best in the league. They are playing with a confidence they didn't have this time a year ago and will look to keep their hot start rolling when they host the Nashville Predators at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

"I think it's huge when you go into a game not having many doubts in your team game and your personal game," defenseman Nick Holden said. "I think that's something that as a whole, every guy has been kind of like that."

Holden in particular is one of those guys off to a terrific start to the year. He struggled at the beginning of last season but through six games this year, Holden has played a bigger role on the second pair with Jon Merrill and has produced a 58.9% share of the on-ice expected goals, second-best among team defensemen. The Golden Knights have also generated 63% of the high-danger scoring chances with him on the ice at 5-on-5, which leads team defensemen.

The whole team has played well. They lost a close one to Boston but already have blowout wins over San Jose and Calgary, the other two playoff teams from the Pacific division last year.

"We're just playing a little more urgent," forward Ryan Reaves said. "Last year, we seemed to be kind of disorganized in our game. Right now, we're organized, we're playing hard and we're playing with the speed that we have with this team. It just feels like we're bringing a complete game early on this year."

Nashville has started well, too, with a 3-2-0 beginning to its own campaign. The Predators made one of the bigger free-agent splashes this summer by inking Matt Duchene to a seven-year deal. Duchene has a team-best nine points.

He was brought in partly to help improve on last year's putrid power play, which clicked at a league-worst 12.9%. In a small sample this year, the Predators have converted on 23.5% of their chances, which is middle of the pack. Even if the numbers aren't there, the Golden Knights know a team with forwards as talented as Nashville's won't stay down for long.

"They have shooters that can hit one-timers and passers that can make them," Holden said. "If you can deny those cross-ice passes and make them play a simpler game, that's what's going to help us."

The Golden Knights will also need to watch out for the Predators' active defensemen. Three players on Nashville's blue line — Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis — each have five points in five team games. For comparison, Shea Theodore has five points in six games for Vegas, but the next-highest scoring defenseman is Brayden McNabb with two.

But blue line scoring hasn't mattered for the Golden Knights. They have met preseason expectations so far, and it comes back to playing with a renewed sense of confidence.

"We've been going out there making plays and moving our feet real feet well," Holden said. "And we know if we do that, we'll be successful."

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-140, Predators plus-120; over/under: 6.5 (plus-110, minus-130)

Golden Knights (4-2-0, 8 points) (2-1-0 home), t-second place, Pacific Division

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Mark Stone (9)

Goals leaders: Reilly Smith, Mark Stone (4)

Assists leaders: William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty (6)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.13 GAA, 9.33 save percentage)

Predators (3-2-0, 6 points) (0-1-0 road), fourth place, Central Division

Coach: Peter Laviolette (sixth season)

Points leaders: Matt Duchene (9)

Goals leaders: Filip Forsberg (4)

Assists leaders: Matt Duchenel (7)

Expected goalie: Pekka Rinne (3.00 GAA, .894 save percentage)

Golden Knights expected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Paul Stastny—Mark Stone

Valentin Zykov—Cody Eakin—Cody Class

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill—Nick Holden

Nicolas Hague—Deryk Engelland,

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Oscar Dansk

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