Follow usCole Smith notched his third decisive goal of the season, and Kevin Lankinen’s 23 saves propelled the Nashville Predators to a 5-3 triumph over the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. Luke Evangelista, Cody Glass, Tommy Novak, and Gus Nyquist each contributed a goal, while Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh both provided two assists. The victory marked the Predators’ second consecutive win, propelling them into a tie with the St. Louis Blues for the second Western Conference wild-card spot at 60 points.
For Vegas, Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson, and Michael Amadio found the back of the net, with Alec Martinez tallying two assists. Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill made 35 saves but dropped his third straight start. Nashville took an early 1-0 lead in the first period with Evangelista’s 11th goal of the season. Pietrangelo’s power-play goal tied it 1-1, but Glass restored the Predators’ lead before the first intermission.
In the second period, Novak and Smith extended the lead to 4-1. Karlsson’s power-play goal early in the third narrowed the gap to 4-2, and Amadio brought Vegas within one with less than three minutes left. Despite pulling Hill for an extra attacker, Nyquist’s empty-netter secured the Predators’ victory with 1:49 to go. Vegas captain Mark Stone didn’t play in the third period due to an upper-body injury sustained in the second period.
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