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Evangelista's First Career Power Play Goal Came at an Opportune Time for Predators

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Preds
By Ann Kimmel | Last updated 1/14/24

The Nashville Predators had to play a patient game Saturday night against Ilya Sorokin and the New York Islanders to come away with a 3-1 win. The game was scoreless through two periods, and it was twelve minutes into the third period before Jean-Gabriel Pageau got the Islanders on the board first with a tip in goal.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Luke Evangelista drew a tripping penalty and scored on the subsequent power play to tie the game up. The Predators went on to win with just seven seconds left in regulation on a flukey goal from Alexandre Carrier and added a late insurance empty net goal from Juuse Pärssinen.

The power play goal by the 21-year-old Toronto native was his first career power play goal and it came at a good time for his team and for him. Evangelista made his NHL debut on February 28, 2023 and played 24 games for the Predators scoring seven goals and 15 points last spring. He made the team out of training camp in October, but his season has had moments of ups and downs. Evangelista played five games at the beginning of the season in which he didn't make the scoresheet before scoring his first point. He has had three multi-point games this season but also had stretches of struggles and was a healthy scratch in December for a "reset".

Evangelista knows that growth in the NHL isn't linear.

"It's never a straight line especially when you're a young guy trying to develop," Evangelista said recently. "There's ups and downs."

Saturday night's win was an opportunity for Evangelista to show the growth in his game and the mental maturity that comes with embracing the non-linear.

"He's a very poised kid," Andrew Brunette said of Evangelista after the game. "He's got some pretty good swagger to him, which I appreciate. I don't think any moment is too big for him."

Evangelista's performance against the Islanders is an encouraging sign for Brunette as he looks down the road.

"For Luke and Novi [Tommy Novak] and these kids to make big plays in big moments, organizationally and as a coach, it's really good to see," Brunette said.

"We're going to need them down the stretch. They've been playing much better in the last little bit. Hopefully it's a little springboard to even catapult them a little higher."

Brunette will need another strong performance from Evangelista and the Predators as they face the Vegas Golden Knights Monday at 5:00 pm CT in their first game of a three game road trip.

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Preds and was syndicated with permission.

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