Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights will put their five-game winning line on the line as they visit Nashville Predators on Saturday night.
Golden Knights (44-20-8, 96 points) arrive at Nashville, the last stop on a three-game Road Trip, and know that they must be better from start to finish than they were in a 5-3 comeback victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
“We knew we were not the best,” said Vegas defender Noah Hanifin. “The bet is always there with our group, but we didn’t run. We knew we could win that game and just had to put together a good third period. … It was happy two points that didn’t play our best.”
Against the central division’s basement Blackhawks, Vegas blew a lead of the second period and even struck into the third period before scored three unanswered goals. Golden Knights has a seven-point lead over Los Angeles Kings for Division Crown with 10 matches to play.
“We can build up the third period,” Hanifin said. “The first two, you have to flush it. It’s another great opportunity for us to get two points and end a good trip.”
The Golden Knights saw their big weapons increase when they were needed most, but they also showed their depths in the victory. Victor Olofsson not only snapped a 20-players’ goal scorer with a second period, but he cued in the third period comeback with a game-binding goal 126 seconds into the final frame.
“I haven’t done in a while, so it definitely helps with the trust and gives me a good boost,” Olofsson said. “I have a little more pop in my step and attack a little more.”
The predators (27-37-8, 62 points) were eliminated from the playoffs with a 3-2 loss to St. Louis Blues on Thursday, a death in what has been a massively disappointing season.
“I know these are the numbers, but I feel we were eliminated a long time ago,” said forward Ryan O’reilly. “We knew it would come; we haven’t been good in any way. I myself, I have not been good in any way. So it was expected.”
The defeat was a perfect microcosm of Nashville’s season, which started with a promise after a season where the club brought a trio of big names and large ticket -veteran agents in the forth Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchesult and defender Brady Skjei. But the season quickly fired to a disaster.
The predators led the Blues 2-0 lead at Midway Point Thursday but saw the lead disappear and the game turned into a gloomy defeat.
“Pretty much shows all year in a game,” said Nashville coach Andrew Brunette.
The predators have 10 matches left and will have plenty of time for a after death, but a few errors are easy to discover. Offensively, they are the league’s lowest points, and only the Chicago Blackhawks have earned fewer points along the way.
Nashville, who has only two wins in the last eight matches (2-5-1), lost three times to blues in a 10-day span with a combined score of 11-4.
“We showed the same way we are – why we are where we are versus where they are,” said Filip Forsberg.
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