The Vegas Golden Knights faced a 1-0 deficit after one period Saturday night, but a second-period surge and a five-goal third period propelled them to a 7-2 victory over the Nashville Predators at T-Mobile Arena. The win was the seventh straight for the Knights, who improved to 24-11-12.

Nashville struck first when Luke Evangelista tipped a Roman Josi shot with 5:50 left in the first period. The Knights outshot the Predators 15-5 in the opening frame but couldn’t solve goaltender Justus Annunen.

“I feel like we had better energy than them, and that was probably the case,” said Knights coach Bruce Cassidy. “When you play Colorado, you’ve got to work. You’ve got to skate. I thought we did some good things offensively, minus the traffic in front.”

The breakthrough came late in the second period. Alexander Holtz’s point shot deflected in to tie the game, and Shea Theodore’s wrist shot 65 seconds later gave Vegas a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.

The Knights poured it on in the final frame, scoring five times in a span of 9:20. Captain Mark Stone extended his point streak to a career-best 11 games. Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist for his fifth multipoint game in his last seven. Pavel Dorofeyev scored his team-leading 20th goal, his third in two games. Keegan Kolesar and Cole Reinhardt each had a goal and an assist.

“We just started getting pucks and bodies to the net, either with screens like Shea’s goal, or just secondary opportunities,” Kolesar said. “We were trying to outnumber them and we were able to cash in quite a few goals.”

Goaltender Akira Schmid made 27 saves and added an assist for his fourth straight win. Theodore, playing in his 600th NHL game, also had an assist and finished plus-3.

The Knights have outscored opponents 36-19 during the streak. It’s the third time Vegas has won seven straight under Cassidy, and the first since starting 7-0 in 2023-24.

“It feels like we’re turning a corner right now, and a lot of that is because the puck is going in the net,” Cassidy said.