Alexander Holtz and the fourth line provided the spark, and the Vegas Golden Knights kept rolling Saturday night with a 7-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena. The win extended their streak to seven straight games, a remarkable turnaround after a stretch of eight losses in nine contests.
Holtz tied the game 1-1 with 2:43 left in the second period, then Shea Theodore scored 65 seconds later to give Vegas a 2-1 lead heading into the third. From there, the floodgates opened: five goals in a span of 9:20, with the last three coming 2:44 apart.
“That’s what got us going,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Then you see the game open up for us and now we start making our rush plays and pretty plays because they’re forcing the game a little bit. We were able to separate.”
The Knights (24-11-12) have scored 36 goals during the win streak (5.14 per game), compared to just 28 during their 1-5-3 slump. Saturday marked the first time nearly every skater contributed: all but four registered a point. Even goaltender Akira Schmid earned an assist on Mitch Marner’s goal that made it 5-1.
“We got guys in the room historically who can score, so you can figure at some point they’ll get closer to their numbers,” Cassidy said. “The team has scored.”
Holtz finished with two points, winger Cole Reinhardt added a goal and an assist, and call-up center Tanner Laczynski had an assist — the best offensive night from the fourth line this season.
“Just happy vibes,” Holtz said. “Everyone wants to get out there. Just feeding off each other. Everyone’s coming up with speed. We’ve got a lot of skill on our team and I think we showed that.”
Nashville goaltender Justus Annunen stopped all 15 shots in the first period, but the Knights broke through in the second and never looked back. The Predators played the second night of a back-to-back.
Keegan Kolesar, who didn’t score his first goal this season until Jan. 2, has now scored in back-to-back games. “It takes the burden off our top guys,” Kolesar said. “They’re going to be our drivers most nights, but sometimes when we can contribute when we can, it lightens the load on them.”
