Nashville Predators vs Vegas Golden Knights Prediction: Best Bet for Friday

Nashville arrives in Las Vegas on a five-game winning run with one regulation road loss all season, and Vegas has the highest-scoring attack on the Friday slate in a building where the Golden Knights have won seven of ten. Something in that pairing has to give on Friday night.

The Matchup

Vegas is 13-5-2, scoring 3.40 goals per game and allowing 2.65, a +0.75 differential from the highest-scoring team on the Friday slate. The Golden Knights are 7-3-0 at T-Mobile Arena, and the attack runs in layers: Jack Eichel leads Vegas with 26 points, Mark Stone has 10 goals, and Mitch Marner has 20 assists, so the creation does not live on one line. Vegas won the first meeting 5-2 in Nashville on October 14, and the Golden Knights have won four of their last five games since, with the one loss coming in a shootout at Boston.

Nashville is 10-4-5, scoring 3.05 per game and allowing 2.63 for a +0.42 differential, and the Predators are the hottest team on the slate, winners of five straight. The road split backs the run up: 4-1-3 away from home, one regulation road loss all season.

Steven Stamkos leads Nashville with 11 goals, Filip Forsberg has 22 points, and Roman Josi has 20 assists from the blue line. Nashville's streak is not a soft-schedule accident either: the five wins include Carolina and a 3-2 overtime win at Colorado. The Predators arrive playing the best hockey of their season, and Friday is a real test of how far it travels.

Key Factors

Nashville's case starts in net and on the kill, and it is a strong one. Juuse Saros is expected to start for Nashville, at a 2.42 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 13 games, the best goaltending line in this game. The Predators kill 89.5 percent of their penalties, the best mark on the Friday slate, and that unit runs straight into a Vegas power play converting 27.9 percent.

Nashville converts 26.6 percent on its own power play against a Vegas kill of 76.9 percent, so the special teams exchange leans toward the visitors at both ends. If Saros plays to his season and the kill holds, Nashville can win this game, and the price knows it.

What Vegas has is volume and depth. The Golden Knights score 3.40 a night, allow just 25.4 shots per game against Nashville's 29.0, and create through Eichel, Stone and Marner on separate lines, which is how home favorites wear down a team built around one goaltender and one kill. Adin Hill is expected to start for Vegas, at 2.54 and .903 in nine games, with Carter Hart at 2.53 and .896 behind him, so the home crease is steady rather than spectacular, and steady has been enough behind this attack at home.

Vegas is missing a real piece on the back end: Noah Hanifin is out tonight. He is listed out with an undisclosed injury. Nashville lists Jonathan Marchessault as day-to-day with a lower body injury. Keep an eye on whether Marchessault plays before placing a bet.

The Nashville case is the streak, Saros, the kill, and a road record with one regulation loss. It is the best underdog case on the Friday slate, and it still asks the Predators to beat the slate's best attack in its own building for a sixth straight win, against a team that already beat them 5-2 this season. Vegas does not need a dominant night. The Golden Knights need their normal home game, layered pressure and all, and Nashville needs Saros to be the best player on the ice again.

Every pick is published with its line before the game. Odds via consensus sportsbooks at time of writing and move constantly. Must be 21+. If gambling is a problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER.