The Vegas Golden Knights earned a point but ultimately lost 2-1 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning Sunday afternoon at Benchmark International Arena.
The Golden Knights, now 5-1-3 on the year, have dropped two consecutive games (0-1-1) after winning four straight. Vegas was only marginally better in Sunday’s matchup compared to Saturday’s 3-0 shutout loss against Florida, but the Golden Knights delivered another largely listless effort.
That being said, goaltender Carl Lindbom was impressive in his NHL debut, turning aside 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage while keeping his team in the game until the very end.
Brandon Hagel opened the scoring less than five minutes into the first period to give the Lightning the early edge.
William Karlsson scored the lone goal for Vegas, knotting things up at 1-1 with 1:35 remaining in the first period after beating Andrei Vasilevskiy cleanly.
But the 1-1 score held thanks to Lindbom, who stopped all 23 shots he faced in regulation following Hagel’s tally.
Lindbom got some critical assistance from video coach Dave Rogowski, who helped Vegas initiate a successful offside challenge to nullify what looked like Nikita Kucherov’s go-ahead goal at 13:38 of the third period. It was ruled that Kucherov did not have possession as he crossed the blue line. This allowed Vegas to come away with a point and a chance for two in overtime.
But Kucherov — one game after recording his 1000th career point — would not be denied again. He scored the game-winner for Tampa Bay just 32 seconds into the extra frame, capitalizing on a turnover by Shea Theodore and scoring on the ensuing 2-on-1.
The Lightning outshot the Golden Knights 28-19 and led 64-41 in shot attempts and 34-18 in scoring chances.
Much like in Saturday’s loss to the Panthers, the Golden Knights got off to a slow start and struggled to find their game.
“Not the start we wanted,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “In the second we got into penalty trouble, couldn’t get in a rhythm. Then we got through the penalties and started breaking pucks out better but then couldn’t get through the neutral zone, so it was like a domino effect. We finally executed a few plays to get out of trouble, and then we couldn’t get our forecheck going.”
The Golden Knights had just 10 shots through two periods but did outshoot the Lightning 11-3 in the third, with five of those 11 coming on the power play.
Unlike Saturday’s loss, the Golden Knights recorded more shots (19) than giveaways (15), though the margin was negligible.
Vegas’ penalty kill was heavily tested, as the Golden Knights took five penalties (three minors and a four-minute high-sticking penalty) in the first 30:15 of the game. The penalty kill stood tall, going 5-for-5 to improve to 8-for-8 through two games of this three-game road trip.
The Golden Knights’ power play had some looks in the third period, but the man-advantage went 0-for-3 on the night in a very close game. The Vegas power play continues to struggle without Mark Stone.
But Vegas’ entire offense seems to have vanished over the last two games. The Golden Knights went from being one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL to scoring just one goal in 120:32 of hockey over the weekend.
However, as Cassidy pointed out, the Golden Knights were tied going into the third period, and overtime can always go either way. This was a winnable game for the Golden Knights despite how poorly they played. But while Vegas managed to steal a point, the team was unable to make the extra play needed for the win.
Karlsson, who now has four goals on the season, said the Golden Knights need to “take care of details. The forecheck was kind of nonexistent tonight. We have to be in better spots. We have to make it tougher for them to break the puck out. Stuff like that. Obviously, coming out of the zone, too; we gotta make more plays.”
But Theodore — who historically has played some of his most dynamic hockey against Tampa Bay — then tried to do too much in overtime, only to see the puck end up in Vegas’ net. Jack Eichel tried to defend the 2-on-1, but Lindbom had no chance.
“We have to manage the puck better in overtime with only three guys on the ice,” Cassidy said. “We didn’t do that, so [the Lightning] took advantage of their chance.”
The Golden Knights did not play well enough to win and were not the better team. If not for Lindbom’s excellent debut and Rogowski’s clever challenge, the Golden Knights would have left the Sunshine State with zero points.
The Golden Knights will look to salvage this three-game road trip when they visit the Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.
Photo via @GoldenKnights on X.