Nate Schmidt celebrates Paul Stastny’s overtime game-winner as a shocked Predators fan can’t believe it.By J. Tyge O’Donnell and Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — The Vegas Golden Knights pulled off a stunning overtime win over Nashville after forcing the OT with a tying goal that was registered with less than a second left on the clock.
It’s Nashville, so I’m sure there’s a country music songwriter somewhere here who is already penning a sad song about the hometown Predators blowing a 3-2 lead in period three as Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty scored at 19:59 of the third period to deadlock the game at three goals apiece.
“It was like slow motion,” an exuberant goalie Malcolm Subban said of the last few seconds of regulation when the Knights stormed the Nashville net and registered the equalizer with a moment left in the game.
In OT, VGK veteran forward Paul Stastny took a pass from defenseman Nate Schmidt on a two-on-zero rush and shot the puck into the net for the Knights’ 4-3 win that stunned Bridgestone Arena.
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Most fans would say the Golden Knights’ biggest rival is the San Jose Sharks, but the Nashville Predators are an underrated rival after the Preds goofed on the VGK’s dramatic pregame ice show a year ago before a VGK-Preds game in Nashville.
The two sunbelt markets have much in common, with both relying on an entertainment-based tourist economy with lots of residents who have migrated to their respective cities of Las Vegas and Nashville. The Preds have already defeated the Golden Knights, 5-2, in a game in Las Vegas this season.
Both markets have planted the NHL flag in non-traditional markets and have been building their fan based on an entertaining in-game experience while also laying the foundation for future fans by investing in youth hockey programs and ice rinks. Here’s the Predators’ home venue.
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The Knights’ star goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, was not with the team because of a personal family issue in Canada.
Subban was in net and he held Nashville scoreless in the first period as Mark Stone scored to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead after the first period. VGK forward Reilly Smith scored his eleventh goal of the season to give the Knights a 2-0 edge in period two. But Nashville responded with two goals to tie the game in the second period. The Predators responded in period three with a goal to lead before the Knights tied the game at the end of regulation.
Max Pacioretty takes a shot in period one.Knights fans in the house enjoyed Tyge O’Donnell’s “papalhead.” O’Donnell met the Pope in Japan over last weekend gave him a homemade “papalhead.”
You have to wonder whether the O’Donnell Papal Head bobblehead produced the miracle game-tying goal with a second left in regulation.
Golden Knights fans were in the arena.
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