Vegas came into Bridgestone Arena on Monday night and put five past Juuse Saros. The Golden Knights bounced back from Sunday's loss in Minnesota with a 5-2 win over the Predators, and the story of this game isn't just the final score — it's how they scored. Two of their five goals came within seconds of a penalty expiring, that's something that other teams will notice. It should help the Knights penalty kill as opposing teams look to combat the Knights attack.

VGK improves to 6-2-0.

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The Expired Penalty Kill: Vegas's Hidden Weapon

This is the number that matters most from Monday night, and it deserves its own section.

Vegas took a penalty at 4:36 of the first — Howden for interference, two minutes. The Knights killed it. The clock hit zero. The puck dropped for 4-on-4 play and ten seconds later, Tomas Hertl scored at 6:46 to tie the game 1-1. Lavoie and Howden with the assists.

Vegas took another penalty at 10:44 — holding, two minutes. The Knights killed that one too. The clock hit zero. Four seconds later, Jack Eichel tipped one past Saros at 12:48 to make it 2-1. McNabb with the only assist.

Two penalties killed. Two goals surrendered in the immediate aftermath. That's not bad luck — that's a team that knows exactly how to exploit the transition moment when a penalty expires and the defense is still reorganizing from kill formation. Most teams treat the end of a power play as a reset. Vegas treats it as an opportunity.

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How the First Period Unfolded

Nashville drew first blood. Ryan O'Reilly scored at 3:55 on a backhand finish off a Filip Forsberg rebound — a clean even-strength goal that gave the Preds an early lead and the home crowd some energy.

Then Vegas went to work.

Hertl tied it at 6:46 in the immediate aftermath of the expired Howden penalty. Eichel put Vegas ahead 2-1 at 12:48 with a tip-in off a McNabb feed, again seconds after a Nashville penalty expired. Two goals in six minutes, both coming out of penalty kill transitions, and the Golden Knights led after one.

The Predators also drew a penalty shot in the first — holding on a breakaway — but it didn't convert. Vegas escaped the period up 2-1.

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Nashville Ties It, Then Vegas Pulls Away

The second period had a moment. Adam Edstrom scored a shorthanded goal at 8:45 — a wrist shot off feeds from Nic Hague and O'Reilly — to tie the game 2-2. Nashville was on the penalty kill and scored anyway. Credit where it's due: that's a good hockey play.

But Vegas answered. William Karlsson scored at 17:44 on a snap shot, with Marner and Rasmus Andersson picking up the assists, and the Golden Knights went into the third up 3-2.

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Connelly and Howden Close It Out

Trevor Connelly scored at 4:49 of the third — a wrist shot off feeds from Noah Hanifin and Daemon Coghlan — to make it 4-2 and effectively end the game. It was Connelly's third goal of the season and his second in two games.

Brett Howden added the fifth at 6:24 on a tip-in, with Rasmus Andersson and Mark Stone picking up the assists. Stone now has 5 assists on the season and continues to run this offense from the shadows without putting his name on the scoresheet in goals.

Two goals in 95 seconds in the third period. Game over.

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Adin Hill Was Steady All Night

Adin Hill started in goal and he was the right call. Hill stopped 25 of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage. He was tested in the second when Nashville pushed back after the Edstrom shorthanded goal, and he held the lead.

Juuse Saros took the loss, stopping 20 of 25 shots (.800). Five goals on 25 shots is a rough night for one of the better goalies in the league, but Vegas generated quality looks all night and made him work.

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The Bottom Line

Vegas bounced back the right way. They came into a hostile building the night after a tough loss, scored five goals, and did it with a level of offensive intelligence that's becoming a signature of this team. The expired-penalty-kill goals aren't an accident — they're a product of a roster that knows how to read the ice and attack the moment a defense is most vulnerable.

6-2-0. The Golden Knights are exactly where they should be.

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