The Golden Knights saw a two-period lead evaporate in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas outshot Nashville 34-20 through the first 40 minutes but unraveled in the final frame, a collapse coach Ryan Craig and defenseman Rasmus Andersson attributed to poor puck management and a failure to meet the team's standards.
The turning point arrived midway through the third period when Ryan O'Reilly tied the game. O'Reilly collected the puck behind the net and found space to score short-side after the Knights lost their two-layer defensive coverage. Craig said the team got tied up in front of the net and failed to rotate over to stop the Predators captain, who scored both Nashville goals in regulation.
Goaltender Adin Hill kept Vegas in the game with a season-high 30 saves, posting a .942 save percentage over his last three starts. At the other end, Juuse Saros was spectacular with 40 saves, stifling the Knights' early dominance. Andersson acknowledged Saros's performance but said Vegas did not generate enough traffic or chaos to truly test him.
Craig pinpointed the defensive blue line as the area where the game slipped away, noting the Knights threw pucks away, stopped moving their feet, and failed to use their support structure to exit the zone. Despite the collapse, Vegas salvaged a standings point to fall to 10-0-1 when leading after two periods. The Knights host the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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