LAS VEGAS — The Golden Knights scored more than two goals for just the second time in six games, but it wouldn’t be enough as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning secured a 6-3 win Thursday night.
Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of third-period goals and added an assist on a late empty-netter as the Bolts pulled away for the win.
Ivan Barbashev scored two goals for the Golden Knights (7-2-3), while Mitch Marner added his fourth of the season in the third period when his shot deflected off Victor Hedman and past Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the game.
Brandon Hagel scored 35 seconds later and the Lightning (6-5-2) never looked back, and the Knights lost for the fourth time in six games.
Vegas rookie Carl Lindbom made 21 saves.
Gage Goncalves and Dominic James also scored for the Lightning while Hagel scored his second of the game with 45 seconds left in the game.
Vegas opened the game looking as if it might dominate, with Barbashev providing the two-goal lead and the Knights outshooting Tampa Bay, 15-3.
But the Bolts turned the tables in the second, outshooting Vegas, 15-4, including goals from Goncalves and James.
“All those things that went our way, in the second period they did the exact same thing,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said.
KEY MOMENT: Less than one minute after Kucherov scored his first goal to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead, Marner tied the game. But Hagel’s goal was the turning point when his backhand from in front of the net beat Lindbom glove side. The momentum and energy Marner provided just 45 seconds earlier were drained from T-Mobile Arena.
KEY STAT: The Golden Knights were 0 for 3 on the power play, and are now 2 for 23 with a man advantage since Oct. 20. Their 8.7% power-play conversion rate is the second lowest in that span, as they’re one of just four teams that is less than 10%.
WHAT A KNIGHT: Both Barbashev and Marner turned in three-point nights, which ended being all for not, after Vegas squandered its two-goal lead and then failed to capitalize when tying the game and briefly seizing momentum.
“A team doesn’t give up on anything … they don’t care what the score is,” Marner said of the Lightning. “Momentum swing is a lot. It got weird … I think we got too much into a track race.
There’s gonna be ups and downs in a season. That’s how a season goes. The thing that this team does really well is stay even-keeled.”
UP NEXT: Vegas hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday in a battle between the Pacific Division’s top two teams. The Knights have won the last four meetings and will come into the clash on a 7-1 run against Anaheim when the teams meet at T-Mobile.
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