Tomas Hertl stayed red-hot, scoring his team-leading 31st goal of the season as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Sunday night.
Hertl found the net midway through the first period to give Vegas a 2-0 lead, one night after recording his second hat trick of the season. Nic Roy had opened the scoring with his 11th of the year, and Jack Eichel added his 24th to make it 3-0. Nicolas Hague sealed the win with an empty-net goal late in the third.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov was sharp, making 35 saves in his 199th NHL appearance.
Nick Paul and Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning, who wrapped up a three-game road swing with their fifth loss in the last eight games. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 shots in the defeat.
Game Takeaways
Lightning: Tampa Bay concluded its road trip after previous stops at Dallas and Salt Lake City. The team struggles with consistency, especially following Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Utah Hockey Club.
Golden Knights: Vegas has been 11-3-2 since February 6, collecting 24 points — the fifth-most in the NHL during that stretch.
Key Moment
Hertl, who has seven goals in his last four home games, exited late in the third period with a possible upper-body injury. After Vasilevskiy denied his breakaway attempt, he was shoved into the boards by defenseman Emil Lilleberg, who received a boarding penalty.
Key Stat
Despite boasting two of the NHL’s top power-play units — Vegas ranks second and Tampa Bay fifth — the teams combined for just two goals on eight power-play opportunities.
Looking Ahead
The Golden Knights will play three games on the road beginning Tuesday in Minnesota. The Lightning will return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on the same night.
