Knights lose to Predators, Marchessault despite forward’s hat trick
Pavel Dorofeyev almost brought the Golden Knights back from the brink by himself.
In the end, Jonathan Marchessault got the last laugh.
Dorofeyev recorded his first NHL hat trick, but the Knights fell short in their bid for a four-goal comeback in a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old right wing, coming off a two-goal game Sunday in a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, supplied the entirety of the Knights’ offense with a natural hat trick to turn a 4-0 deficit into 4-3 with 4:40 remaining.
“What a waste, huh?” coach Bruce Cassidy said.
But the Knights (29-12-3) couldn’t dig themselves out of that hole, which came from the combination of nonexistent offense in the first 30 minutes and the inability to slow down Nashville’s top line that featured the Knights’ all-time leading scorer.
Marchessault had an assist and was a plus-2 in his first meeting against his former team. The 34-year-old signed a five-year deal with Nashville after spending the past seven years with the Knights.
Center Steven Stamkos, who signed with Nashville along with Marchessault on July 1, scored twice.
Nashville’s top line of Marchessault, Stamkos and Filip Forsberg accounted for the Predators’ two goals in a first period when the Knights were outshot 11-1. Their first shot didn’t come until 2:35 left in the period on an 86-foot attempt from defenseman Shea Theodore.
Shot attempts were 25-4 in favor of Nashville (14-22-7).
“I feel like our first period was probably one of our worst this year,” said left wing Victor Olofsson, who had two assists.
The Predators added to the lead with two goals in a span of 3:12 with defenseman Justin Barron at 5:29 and Stamkos’ second goal at 8:41 of the second period to make it 4-0.
The Knights’ third shot of the game was Dorofeyev’s first goal at 9:12 of the middle frame. He scored seven seconds into a power play at 14:02 of the second to make it 4-2.
The Knights outshot the Predators 13-2 in the third period, but the damage had already been done. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves and gave up more than three goals in a game for the first time since he allowed six on Nov. 30 against Utah.
“That’s probably the poorest we’ve played through 30 minutes in my 2½ years here,” Cassidy said.
Tuesday was the start of five of the Knights’ next six games being on the road. The remaining four are back-to-backs, starting Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
1. Historic hat trick
Dorofeyev’s three-goal game put him in rare company.
He became the second-youngest player in Knights history to record a hat trick. Defenseman Dylan Coghlan, at 23 years old and 19 days, recorded a hat trick against the Minnesota Wild on March 10, 2021, in a 4-3 loss.
Those goals were Coghlan’s first three of his career. Dorofeyev, on the other hand, continues his career year with a team-high 19 goals through 44 games this season. He had 20 goals in the first 67 games of his NHL career.
2. Missed opportunity
The Knights had an opportunity to cut into the deficit even more in the second with a late power play after Stamkos was called for tripping at 18:00.
They had only two shots on goal, but center Tomas Hertl had a chance in the slot that was broken up by a play from defenseman Roman Josi.
The Knights had all the momentum up until that point. Things might have been different had they found one more goal to end the middle period.
3. Full lineup back
Tuesday marked just the fourth time this season the Knights had their full lineup available.
Center Nicolas Roy returned Sunday following an 11-game absence, one day after left wing Ivan Barbashev returned from missing 10 games. Center Jack Eichel missed Sunday’s game against Minnesota due to an illness.
“Sometimes when you look around the room and see your full lineup, you think, ‘OK, we’re all set now,’” Cassidy said. “Maybe there was a little bit of that complacency. I don’t know. That’s certainly not us. That’s not the team I’m used to seeing.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
