Roman Josi scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of a shootout as the Nashville Predators defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. Ryan O'Reilly contributed two regulation goals for Nashville before Josi capped the tiebreaker to push the club's winning streak to seven games.
The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 7:56 of the first period when O'Reilly buried a wrist shot off assists from Steven Stamkos and Mavrik Bourque. Vegas responded less than four minutes later at 11:19 as Victor Olofsson beat Juuse Saros with a wrist shot set up by Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl to tie the score. Rasmus Andersson then gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 advantage at 10:48 of the second period, converting a wrist shot on assists from Mitch Marner and Parker Wotherspoon.
Nashville drew even at 9:44 of the third period when O'Reilly netted his second wrist shot of the contest, assisted by Adam Wilsby and Josi. After a scoreless overtime period, Trevor Connelly gave Vegas the lead in round two of the shootout, but Filip Forsberg answered in round three. Saros subsequently stopped Jack Eichel in the fourth round, setting up Josi's game-winning attempt against Adin Hill.
Goaltending anchored both teams throughout 65 minutes of play. Saros stopped 40 of 42 shots to earn the victory for Nashville, reaching the 40-save mark in the contest. Hill turned aside 30 of 32 shots in the loss for Vegas. Neither team converted with the man advantage, as the Predators finished 0-for-2 on the power play and the Golden Knights went 0-for-1.
The victory improved Nashville to 11-4-5 on the season and extended their winning streak to seven games. Vegas moved to 13-5-3 following the shootout defeat. The result also evened the regular-season series between the two teams at one victory apiece after Vegas took a 5-2 meeting on October 13.
Both clubs return to action on Sunday. The Predators visit the San Jose Sharks, while the Golden Knights host the Vancouver Canucks.
