![\"NHL:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/27910933.jpg\")
Dec 31, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) celebrates with team mates after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at T-Mobile Arena. The goal was the 600th of his NHL career. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nPerhaps Steven Stamkos has found a frozen fountain of youth.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The 35-year-old Nashville forward scored the 600th goal of his career as the Predators defeated the host Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in a Wednesday matinee.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Stamkos will look to add to his total when the Predators play Thursday night in Seattle.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Stamkos became the 22nd player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal milestone and just the third active skater, joining Alex Ovechkin (912) and Sidney Crosby (646).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n No. 600 for Stamkos came on the power play on a slap shot from the left faceoff circle at 15:37 of the first period after a cross-ice pass from Filip Forsberg, tying the score at 2-2.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “I haven’t scored a ton of those this year, but I guess if it was going to be No. 600, it was kind of like I’ve scored a lot of other ones,” Stamkos said. “Awesome to do it in a win like this. … That’s how you envision doing something special like that. Really cool to have the guys come on the ice and share that moment.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Stamkos scored six times over the past six games and totaled 12 goals in December, including four against St. Louis on Dec. 11. That boosted his team-leading total for the season to 18.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Per the NHL’s PR department, Stamkos’ tally Wednesday was the 119th tying goal of his career, equaling Luc Robitaille for 10th place on the league’s all-time list.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Stamkos also has 98 winning goals, tied with Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur for 11th place. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n The Predators improved to 3-1-0 on a seven-game trip that will conclude with stops Saturday in Calgary and Tuesday in Edmonton, moving within a point of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “You want to roll into a new year with some momentum, and we have,” Stamkos said. “Proud of the guys, and we’re looking forward to the next year.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Kraken, meanwhile, had a four-game winning streak snapped Monday with a 3-2 shootout loss to visiting Vancouver.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Seattle ended a drought of 10 consecutive games without a first-period goal, tallying twice in the opening 20 minutes against the Canucks. But the Kraken couldn’t net another.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “Toward the end there, we sat back a little bit, kind of gave them some chances. And it’s not the way you win games,” said Jared McCann, who scored 8:50 into the contest. “We had some good opportunities offensively, hemmed them in their zone quite a bit. We should be proud of ourselves.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Kraken coach Lane Lambert agreed.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “We keep playing that way, we’ll have success more often than not,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The Kraken’s resurgence, which comes after a 1-9-1 skid, has been helped by their special teams. Seattle has scored with the man advantage in eight of its past 11 games, though it failed to convert a chance in overtime Monday.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “I thought we had some good chances and that goalie (Kevin Lankinen) made some big saves for them,” said McCann, who fell an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick after dropping the gloves with Vancouver’s Conor Garland. “But all in all, we got a good point out of this and now we move forward.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n –Field Level Media<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n