On The Strip, Mark Stone hit for a hat trick on Monday to lead the Golden Knights to a 4-1 win over the visiting Nashville Predators. 
“I was just fortunate enough to be in shooting spots tonight. I’d be a fool to pass up the ones that I [got],” Stone said. “Those just come some days and other days they don’t, but we just need to keep finding ways to play those 60-minute games as a good team.”
Logan Thompson made 34 saves in the win.
Vegas improved to 25-14-5.
“[Stone’s] pretty good with [Stephenson]. They were on. We saw their chemistry,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “[Dorofeyev] has been a good fit there, too. So, the whole line looks good together, but we need a game like that every once in a while, especially lately where maybe an individual goes above and beyond.”
Stone got the offense going when he potted his first of the night at 15:25 of the opening stanza, for a 1-0 lead to Vegas.
Stone collected his double a71 seconds into the middle frame for a 2-0 advantage to the Knights.
Nashville dropped to 24-19-1, ending a two-game streak.
“We played a pretty good game,” the Predators’ Roman Josi said. “I felt like especially in the first, 5-on-5, we played really well. Even the second, I liked our second. They made a bit of a push, obviously, because they’re a great team, so that was expected, but we kind of ran out of gas a little bit out there.”
Luke Evangelista was the lone striker for Nashville. His goal at at 17:22 of the second period trimmed the deficit to 2-1.
“He’s got some good consistencies,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said of Evangelista. “He’s been playing better and better each night. So, I was happy to see it go in for him. He’s had a little stretch where he was getting chances that weren’t going in for him. It’s a big goal for us. He made some big plays.”
Stone then netted his hat trick with 24 seconds left on the period clock for a 3-1 advantage headed to the third period.
“By the end, Saros had to be thinking glove, five-hole, blocker, three different spots,” Cassidy said. “[Stone] wasn’t predictable. He was taking what was there.”
Jonathan Marchessault hit an empty net at 19:41 of the third for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.
“It’s just that time of year where the better teams will start separating. So, obviously, we want to be one of those,” Cassidy said. “We have to be a better version of ourselves for longer if we expect to get points. We’ve even talked about that. We might even be doing that and still not get points because teams will just be playing better. We’ve witnessed some of that lately.”
Juuse Saros made 25 saves in the loss.
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