Jonathan Marchessault broke a 13-game goal drought with two first-period goals, the second standing after a replay challenge, to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
This win extends the Golden Knights’ winning streak to five games, keeping them atop the competitive Pacific Division. It’s a remarkable turnaround for Vegas, which struggled with a 1-5-2 record before the All-Star break.
“I did feel it was a playoff vibe,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I was comfortable with my lines in November, and then a bunch of guys got hurt, damn it, and so that kind of screwed that up. Now we’re back to pretty good health, minus (Mark Stone). I like the way they’re operating.”
This was Tampa Bay’s first regulation loss of a four-game trip. The Lightning, who will host Anaheim on Tuesday night, were 3-0-1 in their previous four games.
The Knights attacked Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy early, scoring four times in the first period. According to Sportsnet Stats, this was the first time Vasilevskiy allowed that many goals in an opening period.
Shea Theodore contributed three points in the first period alone. He has a track record of performing well against the Lightning, previously recording two four-point games and scoring a last-second winning goal against them in 2017.
Reilly Smith added two assists for Vegas, while four Lightning players—Victor Hedman, Vladislav Namestnikov, Corey Perry, and Mikhail Sergachev—each tallied two points.
The game started with a flurry of goals, with three scored within a 47-second span in the first period. Namestnikov and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, and Brett Howden scored for Vegas. Stamkos’ goal was a top-shelf one-timer from the left circle on a power play.
Vegas then scored three more times in the period, with Marchessault scoring twice and Theodore adding another. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper challenged Marchessault’s second goal for a high stick, but after a video review, the goal stood.
“Come on,” Cooper said about the goal after the game. “Marchessault could stand here and say he had a high stick on that goal. The rule’s confusing to me now. I thought that was plain as day, but they saw it differently.”
The dispute was over whether Marchessault’s stick was above his shoulders when he hit the puck to the ice, not when he shot. The officials determined the stick was at shoulder height.
“I thought my stick was around my shoulders, and I hit the bottom part of it,” Marchessault said. “I just got a little taller than I was in Tampa (2014-16). They didn’t know that.”
The Lightning closed the gap to one goal in the second period with Perry’s goal, ending the Knights’ five-game streak of allowing two or fewer goals.
Vegas sealed the win with 1:09 left in the game on Nicolas Roy’s empty-netter from 142 feet. This goal became crucial when former Knight Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored with 10 seconds remaining.
NOTES
- Stamkos has points in 16 of his past 22 games (nine goals, 21 assists) and 11 points in nine career games against the Knights.
- Vegas’ Paul Cotter extended his points streak to four games (three goals, one assist) and Theodore to three games (two goals, four assists).
- Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli returned in the third period after a second-period collision with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb.
- The Knights’ power-play dry spell extended to 23 consecutive chances without a goal, with only one conversion in their past 30 attempts.
UP NEXT
- Lightning: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.
- Golden Knights: At Chicago on Tuesday night.