The Vegas Golden Knights continued their scorching run Saturday night, overwhelming the Nashville Predators 7-2 with a flurry of goals to claim their seventh consecutive victory.
Vegas seized control late in the second period when Alexander Holtz and Shea Theodore scored just 65 seconds apart, turning a tight game into a runaway. The Golden Knights followed that burst with an avalanche of offense in the third, striking five times to put the contest out of reach.
Pavel Dorofeyev and captain Mark Stone scored on breakaways during a three-minute stretch early in the final period. Dorofeyev reached the 20-goal mark for the season, while Stone continued his torrid stretch with his 10th goal in 11 games and 18th overall, extending his career-best point streak to 11 games.
Vegas kept piling on as Cole Reinhardt and Mitch Marner scored 50 seconds apart, and Keegan Kolesar finished off the five-goal third period. Akira Schmid earned the win with 26 saves.
Nashville got goals from Luke Evangelista and Filip Forsberg, while Justus Annunen stopped 29 shots. The Predators entered the game riding a three-game winning streak, including a high-scoring win at Colorado the night before.
Holtz ignited Vegas’ surge late in the second, tying the game when his one-timer off Theodore’s pass deflected into the net. Theodore, skating in his 600th NHL game, followed moments later with a shot through traffic to give the Golden Knights the lead.
Forsberg added a late power-play goal for Nashville in the closing minute. Evangelista had earlier opened the scoring late in the first period.
Former Golden Knight Jonathan Marchessault, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner during Vegas’ 2023 Stanley Cup run, returned to the lineup for Nashville after missing 14 games with a lower-body injury.
Up next
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Predators: Host Buffalo on Tuesday night.
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Golden Knights: Welcome Philadelphia on Monday night.
