Predators rally for 3-2 shootout win to snap Knights' four-game win streak

LAS VEGAS — It happens. You outplay and outshoot an opponent for a good portion of the game but it’s not enough and you ultimately wind up on the short end of things.

That’s what the Vegas Golden Knights went through Friday. Despite holding a 2-1 lead going into the third period and ultimately putting 42 shots on Juuse Saros, the Knights were unable to extend their winning streak to five as Saros and the Nashville Predators came into T-Mobile Arena and left with a 3-2 shootout victory.

Ryan O’Reilly had both Nashville goals and Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi delivered in the shootout, beating Adin Hill to give the Preds their seventh straight win. They’ve passed Colorado in the Central Division top move into second place with 27 points.

“Could we have created a little more traffic and more chaos the way they did? For sure,” said defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who put the Knights ahead midway through the second. “They spread us out a little bit in the D zone in the third period and got more pucks to the net.”

It actually started late in the second period when the Predators turned up the heat and things got a bit helter-skelter. And even though Vegas still led, you could feel things starting to shift toward the visitors.

“Our puck management wasn’t as crisp in the third period,” Knights coach Ryan Craig said. “Our support coming out of our end wasn’t as good as it had been the first couple of periods.”

The way things were going, it appeared the Knights would be the ones extending the win streak. Victor Olofsson scored while on the seat of his pants, knocking home Ivan Barbashev’s rebound to tie the game 1-1 after O’Reilly scored the first of his two goals, being set up nicely by Steven Stamkos.
Andersson’s goal, which came in a 4-on-4 situation, was the result of Mitch Marner using his speed and hockey sense to draw the Nashville defense to him. Andersson cruised the slot, Marner found him and Andersson beat Saros for his third of the year.

At the other end, Adin Hill was having another strong performance in goal. He made several key stops over the second half of the contest and he finished with 30 saves. However, there was little he could do when O’Reilly beat him to the short side 9:44 into the third period.

The Knights lost O’Reilly, who was behind Hill, then walked out from behind the net and was unchecked as he pout the puck past Hill to tie it.

Both teams had chances to go ahead or win, only to be denied by the post. Reid Schaeffer caught iron with 6:32 to go in regulation. Then Olofsson clanged one off the post in overtime.

In the shootout, Trevor Connelly delivered for the Knights and it looked like that would be enough. But Forsberg kept Nashville alive and when Jack Eichel failed to get off a shot, it opened the door for Josi to win it.

Yes, the Knights picked up a point. But in some respects, they were fortunate to do so despite outplaying Nashville for a good portion of Friday’s game. They’ll host Vancouver Sunday, then face Dallas Tuesday and Thursday to wrap up the five-game homestand.

“You got to learn from it,” said center William Karlsson. “We were chasing them around in the third period and it tilted in their favor.”