Lankinen helps Predators hold off Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- The Nashville Predators scored three straight goals then held on for a 5-3 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves in his first start since Jan. 27 for Nashville (29-25-2). Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh each had two assists.

“[Lankinen] was awesome. He was everything you asked for and more on the performance side,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We talked about it all year that secondary scoring is going to be invaluable for us. For them to contribute, hopefully they feel good about themselves, and they can build off.”

Adin Hill made 35 saves for Vegas (32-18-6), which has lost three of four and three straight at home.

“We just need to better at home,” Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “That’s a team that lost big last week, so you know, they're going to come out. They’re fighting for playoff spot, and so are we. So I just think we need a little bit more. I know it's back to back, but we needed a little bit more tonight.”

Vegas captain Mark Stone left the game after the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

“I got nothing on the report,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I didn't see him after, but I didn't look for him to be honest with you. I was going through some other stuff. I’ll check in on him when I get back in there. Hopefully we'll have news for you tomorrow.”

Luke Evangelista scored from outside the right circle at 5:35 of the first period, giving Nashville a 1-0 lead.

Pietrangelo tied the game 1-1 at 14:09, roofing a wrist shot from the right circle.

Cody Glass gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 19:06 with a shot from above the hash marks.

“I played with ‘Hillsy’ in junior. He was my goalie when I was 16, so I got to shoot in on him a lot,” Glass said. “I just tried being quick, releasing it quickly and trying to surprise him.”

Tommy Novak extended the lead to 3-1 at 8:04 of the second period shortly after a Predators power play ended.

Cole Smith tipped the puck off Michael McCarron’s shot through Hill’s short side at 15:58 to make it 4-1.

“You need depth in this league,” Josi said. “There's so many good teams so many teams with depth. So you need scoring from all four lines. I thought everyone did a great job. Every line did their part tonight, and I think that's why we're successful.”

William Karlsson cut the lead to 4-2 on the power play from above the circles 47 seconds into the third period.

Michael Amadio made it 4-3 at 17:01, shooting into a wide-open net after receiving a pass from Alec Martinez.

Gustav Nyquist scored into an empty net at 18:11 for the 5-3 final.

“If you look at the game, it was their depth guys that scored, and it wasn’t (Ryan O'Reilly’s) line that beat us tonight,” Cassidy said. “Their depth guys, I thought, were a little better in our depth guys. The middle of the pack guys. One goal better at the end with (goalies), and that was the end result.”

NOTES: Defenseman Shea Theodore returned to the Vegas lineup after being out since Nov. 22 with an upper-body injury. He had an assist in 21:03 of ice time. … Evangelista became the third player in Predators history to reach 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists in 78 games) while still a rookie, joining Filip Forsberg and Tanner Jeannot. He had 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 24 games last season.