It's a party on Broadway as the Golden Knights pull away from the Predators 5-2

Coming off of a rough loss to Minnesota on Monday night, the Golden Knights had one major goal in mind for the second half of their first back-to-back of 2026-27: don't fall into a hole, again. After an early Ryan O'Reilly goal put Nashville ahead 1-0, it looked like they might not take that to heart, but that ultimately ended up Nashville's only lead of the game, as Tomas Hertl swiftly tied it and Vegas never looked back. Adin Hill now improbably sits at 3-0-0 on the year, and the Golden Knights' 12 points are good for the top seed in the Western Conference for the moment. Let's get down to some takeaways from another strong win in a young season that's already featured plenty of them.

The depth showed up in droves

Tonight was the third time in eight games that Vegas has scored five or more goals, and for the second time this season, that all five came from different scorers. An astounding 12 of 18 skaters recorded at least one point against Nashville, with only the fourth line and Ivan Barbashev missing out amongst forwards. The loss of Victor Olofsson several games ago doesn't appear to have affected the team much, with others stepping up in his wake; for instance, Brett Howden now has three points in his last two games, including this beauty from tonight:

Rasmus Andersson, he of much criticism, had possibly his best game in a Vegas uniform, contributing two assists and standing as a +3 on the night. For the first time possibly ever, he even led the team in game score. Hopefully a sign of things to come with that contract.

It's also worth shouting out Raphael Lavoie here. Lavoie, who earned a spot on the roster and entered this season as the 13th forward, has finally gotten consistent playing time after Olofsson's injury, and he's made the most of it. After going scoreless in his first 19 career NHL games, he recorded his first two NHL points on both nights of the back to back, assisting on goals from Rasmus Andersson and Tomas Hertl. He feels due for his first goal in the near-future.

Trevor Connelly is a bonafide Calder Trophy candidate

As if the league wasn't already tired of us enough, we now have our own young-gun stud to compete with the likes of Gavin McKenna, Porter Martone, and Cole Hutson. Only three nights after his heroics helped propel Vegas over the LA Kings on Welcome to Impossible Knight, Trevor Connelly scored yet another goal, extending Vegas' lead to two after a tense stretch of 3-2 play.

With that goal, Connelly is now tied for the rookie lead alongside the Blackhawks' Roman Kantserov. In addition, he's in a three-way tie for second among rookies in points, alongside Michael Brandsegg-Nygård and the much-hyped McKenna, only trailing Anton Frondell. After how many of our past 1st-rounders haven't worked out (or have been traded), it's amazing to see management's confidence in one pay off. At this rate, it looks like my bold prediction might actually come true.

Vegas only gets one night off now, with a three-game homestand beginning on Thursday against Calgary. Thankfully, any potential embarassment from becoming the Flames' first win has dissipated at the hands of the Ducks, so it should be a low-stress matchup. Go Knights go!

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