Nicholas Paul scored the decisive goal with 1:13 remaining in the third period. He added two assists, propelling the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-4 victory over the injury-hit and league-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
Paul netted the game-winner off a rebound, marking his second consecutive three-point game.
“It was a big game,” Paul said. “I think it was just a lot of resilience from us.”
Tampa Bay’s right-wing and NHL points leader, Nikita Kucherov, contributed a goal and two assists. Brayden Point scored twice and added an assist, while Alex Barré-Boulet also found the back of the net for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.
Jiri Patera, playing in his third game this season and fifth overall, made 31 saves as he stepped in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).
The defending Stanley Cup champions, coming off a 6-3 loss at Carolina on Tuesday, saw Jonathan Marchessault score twice. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter added goals, while Jack Eichel extended his franchise-record point streak to 12 games with two assists.
“It’s tough to swallow knowing that you did a lot of good things in the third to give yourself a chance to win,” Eichel said. “It’s tough to find positives when you don’t get any points here.”
Eichel had a prime scoring opportunity stopped by Vasilevskiy with three seconds left. The puck got behind the goalie, who dove to keep it out of the net.
Marchessault brought Vegas within 4-3 with an early third-period power-play goal after Kucherov was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kucherov had protested a missed call on his breakaway and was penalized after yelling at a referee.
“I was standing beside him when the ref called the penalty,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was an uncharacteristic call for a referee. It struck a chord for some reason. I wasn’t putting anything on Kuch at all.”
Kucherov said “like four words,” Cooper added. “None of them was profanity. It probably gets said a thousand times in a game.”
Cotter tied the game four minutes later.
The Lightning took a 4-2 lead after scoring three times in a 2:55 stretch late in the second. Kucherov scored a 5-on-3 goal and assisted on Point’s power-play goal 33 seconds later. Kucherov also set up another Point goal to cap the surge.
Kucherov now has 57 points this season.
Marchessault and Barbashev scored first-period goals for Vegas.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman contributed three assists.
Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who took a shot off the back of his left foot on Tuesday, didn’t play. Cooper is hopeful that Sergachev will only miss a game or two.
UP NEXT
- Golden Knights: Continue their road trip Saturday night at Florida.
- Lightning: Play at Washington on Saturday night.
