The Nashville Predators lost a 4-1 game to the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, and a few small moments in the game made the difference.
After two big wins against the Dallas Stars and the New York Islanders, the Nashville Predators headed to Sin City to play the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. Despite Vegas being without several of their regular roster including team leading scorer Jack Eichel, the Predators couldn't put together their third consecutive win and lost 4-1.
It wasn't a bad performance by the Predators per se. Nashville outshot Vegas 35-29, had just two penalties called on them (one a questionable call on a Predators' power play), and played a physical game landing 48 hits. It was what the Predators didn't do that may have cost them the game.
1. Defensive lapses led to Stone hat trick
Mark Stone scored his first career regular season hat trick on Monday. While Stone is on pace for a near career high season in goals and points, Nashville provided three golden opportunities for Stone to score on each of his goals.
His first period goal came on a rebound that found Stone alone and wide open in the slot to clean up the rebound. He quickly added a goal less than two minutes into the second period on a 3 on 2 chance for the Golden Knights in which the Predators' defenders opted to leave Stone unchallenged coming down the ice. Both Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier pressured Chandler Stephenson leaving Stone wide open.
For the third goal, Stephenson found Stone trailing on a two on one breakaway chance while the teams were playing four on four. Josi attempted to block the shot, but Stone scored blocker side on Juuse Saros.
Stone was able to capitalize on small breakdowns by the Predators and make the most of the fortunate opportunities he was given.
2. The power play
The Predators went 0/4 on the power play against Vegas, a team that ranks middle of the league on the penalty kill. Nashville's first attempt on the power play was anemic at best, but the team recorded six shot chances on subsequent opportunities. Still, the Predators weren't able to cash in on the man advantage.
In the month of January, Nashville has gone 4/21 on the power play, just a 19% success rate. Three of those four goals came as the top unit of Josi, Sissons, O'Reilly, Forsberg, and Nyquist were on the ice. The Predators' second unit has struggled to set up and capitalize on the man advantage. Luke Evangelista scored a game changing power play goal against the New York Islanders on Saturday that tied the game, but the second unit hasn't found its groove yet. Nashville will need to figure out how to turn more of the man advantage chances into goals especially in close games against top teams.
3. Luke Evangelista
Twenty-one year old Luke Evangelista scored the Predators lone goal against Vegas, his second goal in as many games for the Predators. After chasing he puck down in the offensive zone, Evangelista headed to the net front where he battled defenseman Zach Whitecloud for position and deflected Alexandre Carrier's shot past Logan Thompson to make it a one goal game at 17:22 in the second period.
While Evangelista may be better known for his puck handling and playmaking, he held his own in the hard area against Whitecloud who has three inches and forty-plus pounds on him. This season hasn't been a linear climb in the stats for Evangelista who has learned that the process of developing an NHL game comes with highs and lows along the way. With two strong games back to back, Evangelista is playing with confidence.
Vegas didn't give up much in the game against the Predators, and Nashville wasn't able to take over offensively with the chances they had. It wasn't a bad performance, but it wasn't enough to beat the reigning Stanley Cup champions and a Western Conference team looking to make another deep playoff run. On Thursday, the Predators have a chance to clean up those few mistakes and improve on the power play as they take on the L.A. Kings on the road.