William Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period Tuesday night to spark a three-goal surge for the Vegas Golden Knights, who beat the host Nashville Predators 5-2.
Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel scored in the first period, while Trevor Connelly and Brett Howden added insurance in the third for the Golden Knights, who have won five of their last six and lead the Western Conference with 12 points.
Goalie Adin Hill made 25 saves, including a Jack Drury penalty shot with 6:51 left in the first to maintain Vegas’ 2-1 lead.
Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist and Adam Edstrom also scored for the Predators, who have dropped four of their first six. Goalie Juuse Saros recorded 20 saves.
O’Reilly opened the scoring 3:55 into the first, when he picked off a pass by Shea Theodore and dished to Filip Forsberg before swooping in and backhanding home the rebound.
A Predators turnover led to Hertl’s goal a little under three minutes later. Howden intercepted a pass by Ross Colton to begin the sequence that ended with Hertl firing a shot over Saros’ glove shoulder at the 6:46 mark.
An impressive effort by Eichel gave the Golden Knights their first lead with 7:12 left in the first. Brayden McNabb passed into the crease, where Eichel extended his right arm and flicked the puck past Saros.
Edstrom tied the game with a short-handed goal 8:45 into the second, when he retrieved the rebound from his breakaway attempt and poked a shot around Hill and into the far corner of the net.
Karlsson put the Golden Knights ahead for good nine minutes later, when he took a feed from Mitch Marner and beat Saros over his stick shoulder from the right faceoff circle.
Vegas doubled the lead 4:49 into the third. Noah Hanifin passed from the goal line to Connelly, whose shot went over Saros’ glove. Howden added insurance 1:35 later.
