Dorofeyev’ѕ һаt trіck not enougһ for Golden Knіgһtѕ іn 5-2 loѕѕ

Vegas Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev scored a hat trick in a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson added two assists, while Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves for Vegas (29-12-3), which has lost three of its last four.

“I’ve never seen us that listless and get knocked off pucks and lose battles,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “That’s certainly not us. It’s not the team I’m used to seeing. … We gave ourselves a chance to win. That’s the good news. There are no consolation prizes for losing in the National Hockey League.”

Dorofeyev Heating Up

Dorofeyev scored a natural hat trick through the second and third periods.

It helped the Golden Knights get back into the game, reducing the Predators’ 4-0 lead to a 4-3.

“’Pav’ been red hot lately. Good for him to get three goals,” Olofsson said. “Obviously good for him to get three goals. We just try to play a little bit more north and take pucks to the net. Obviously, ‘Pav’ shot the puck very well tonight. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get another one, but we also didn’t start very well in the first and kind of worked our way into the game.”

Poor Start by Golden Knights

The Golden Knights failed to get off to a good start, spotting the Predators a 4-0 lead. Vegas fired one shot on goal in the first and had eight in the second.

Dorofeyev’s hat trick prevented it from a much worse outing.

“I feel like our first period was probably one of our worst this year,” Olofsson said. “I think we played a little bit better in the second where we didn’t really create much except the goals we got there. We had like six shots after half the game, and that’s obviously not good enough. You’re kind of just chasing the game from there.”

Marchessault’s Revenge

Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault spent seven seasons in Vegas before moving to Nashville in the offseason. This marked his first game against the Golden Knights.

He played well, going plus-2 with an assist.

“It was definitely a special game for me,” Marchessault said. “It was weird to see everybody on the other side as those are all guys that I really love and we have a special bond, the whole organization there.”