{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Vegas 4, Nashville 3
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, December 8, 2017
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Dean Morton
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Tony Sericolo
Attendance: 17125

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Younger brother 1, older brother 0.

Golden Knights goalie Malcolm Subban upstaged older brother P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators on Friday night, stopping his only shot on net, plus 40 others and three more in a six-round shootout as Vegas notched a 4-3 win at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.

Reilly Smith's wrister was the only goal of the shootout, enabling the Golden Knights (18-9-1) to pick up their third straight victory. They also improved to 7-1 in games ending after regulation and moved within four points of idle Los Angeles for first place in the Pacific Division.

Although P.K. Subban played well, trying five shots and playing to a plus-two rating in his 23:33 of ice time, Malcolm Subban (7-2-0) was the star of the brothers' first meeting in a regular season game.

During warmups, the brothers and their father, Karl, posed for a picture in front of the Nashville bench. Karl, who was in town as part of Vegas' Fathers' Trip, was wearing Malcolm's jersey.

"It was a pretty cool moment and a great experience," Malcolm Subban said of the picture. "It brought back some old memories."

And the brothers combined for at least one new memory when Malcolm kicked aside P.K.'s point blast late in the first period. Following the save, Malcolm appeared to take a glance towards his older brother.

"I might have looked at him," grinned Malcolm. "We'd look at each other when he was on the ice, especially when they were on the power play. I knew he might try for that one-timer."

It looked like P.K.'s team might earn two points when they rallied from a 2-0 second period deficit, taking their only lead of the game at 14:56 of the third period when Nick Bonino scored his sixth goal after Viktor Arvidsson stole the puck from Shea Theodore and fed Bonino in the slot.

However, Vegas forced overtime with a sixth skater. Erik Haula's one-timer from the right circle deflected off defenseman Roman Josi and into the net at 19:20 for Haula's 10th marker. It was the Golden Knights' 12th shot in the final five minutes.

Vegas received a favorable bounce on its second goal as well. Former Predator James Neal's homecoming included his 14th goal of the season at 15:37 of the second as his one-timer appeared to hit Arvidsson's stick on its way past Pekka Rinne.

Perhaps it was that puck luck, or the knowledge that his team carried play for a majority of the game, that led Nashville coach Peter Laviolette to praise his team's effort.

"They worked hard, but we worked hard too," Laviolette said. "I liked a lot of things in our game. I thought we competed hard, but that's why you sling pucks at the net -- you never know what will happen."

William Karlsson imitated scoring at 6:55 of the first period, 24 seconds into a Golden Knights power play after a high-sticking minor on Craig Smith. Alex Tuch teed up Karlsson in the slot and he bagged his 15th goal.

After Neal scored for his new team, his old team got back into the game at 15:40 of the second. Calle Jarnkrok potted his sixth goal to end a nice tic-tac-toe sequence that started with Filip Forsberg's pass to Pontus Aberg, who found Jarnkrok unmarked in front of Malcolm Subban.

Arvidsson drew the Predators (18-7-4) even at 8:04 of the third period, poking the rebound of Kevin Fiala's one-timer past a prone Subban for his 10th goal. The play survived a challenge from Vegas coach Gerard Gallant for goalie interference.

Following Bonino's tie-breaking marker, Nashville owned a 39-23 advantage in shots on goal. But the Golden Knights, who continue to far exceed the performance of most expansion teams since 1970, stormed back and eventually picked up two more points.

"I thought we played well," Neal said. "They are a quick team, but we played well."

Rinne (16-4-3) finished with 36 saves for the Predators, which tied idle St. Louis atop the Central Division with 40 points.

NOTES: Vegas LW David Perron (upper-body injury) returned to action Friday night after missing the last six games. ... Nashville C Ryan Johansen (upper-body) went on Injured reserve Friday. The team also played backup goalie shuffle again, recalling Anders Lindback from Milwaukee of the AHL and sending Juuse Saros down to get a couple of games. ... The Golden Knights scratched D Jon Merrill, C Stefan Matteau and D Brad Hunt. ... Predators scratches were RW Miikka Salomaki and D Matt Irwin.
Top Game Performances
 
Vegas   Nashville
Nate Schmidt 2 Points Viktor Arvidsson 2
Erik Haula 1 Goals Viktor Arvidsson 1
Nate Schmidt 2 Assists Viktor Arvidsson 1
William Karlsson 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Malcolm Subban .932 Save Percentage Pekka Rinne .923
Malcolm Subban 41 Saves Pekka Rinne 36
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Vegas 39 4 1-4 4-4 10 33
Nashville 44 3 0-4 3-4 10 40
Upcoming Games
  • Nashville will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Predators have a W/L % of .611 after a win and .636 after a loss.
  • Vegas will play their next game on the road against Dallas. The Golden Knights have a W/L % of .706 after a win and .545 after a loss.