Lightning Edge Vegas in Overtime Thriller
After a crushing 3-0 defeat to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, the Vegas Golden Knights headed to Tampa Bay for another showdown in the Sunshine State. In this matchup, Vegas found themselves back in the loss column with a 2-1 overtime loss against the Lightning. It was a close effort between the two teams, with each scoring in the first period, and the game remained tied for the rest of the game, heading into overtime. Both goalies put up a defensive clinic in front of the net, with Vegas’ Carl Lindbom having a stellar NHL debut, with 26 saves out of 28 attempted shots, and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy was nearly perfect with 18 saves out of 19.
The first period saw most of the game’s action, when just 30 seconds in, Keegan Kolesar and Emil Lilleberg took the gloves off, leading to both entering the penalty box early. Just a few minutes later, the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel took a blocked shot from Victor Hedman and sent it over Lindbom’s right leg into the net for a Tampa Bay goal. Hedman and Jake Guentzel were awarded assists on the play. Vegas responded near the end of the period with a snapshot goal from William Karlsson to tie the game 1-1, awarding both Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore with assists.
The second period was as exciting as a no-goal period could be, with Vegas landing only two shots on goal in the second period. Lindbom kept the Lightning at bay, ending the period with 23 saves at the buzzer. The Lightning kept the pressure on, with 18 shots compared to Vegas’ five in the second period. With the Knights' total shots of eight through two periods, it was Vegas’ lowest through 40 minutes all-time.
The Knights would show up in the third with 14 shots compared to the Lightning’s four, but it was a couple of those shots that nearly counted for two goals. The Lightning thought they had a go-ahead goal; however, it was ruled off after it hit a referee and ricocheted into the net. Later on, Nikita Kucherov landed a shot into the net in the 13th minute, but a Vegas challenge found an offside entry into the play, keeping the game tied. Vegas had plenty of chances to capitalize after having two power-play chances in the third, which Tampa Bay thwarted, keeping the game still at 1-1 after regulation. Tampa Bay wasted no time in taking a chance to win the game, as Hagel caught Theodore sleeping, taking away the puck and working in tandem with Kucherov for a skate-off game-winning goal. In the end, it was a disappointing loss for the Knights, who had chances to score, but Tampa Bay’s pressure early on in the game kept them from realizing before sending the game into overtime. Vegas will have an off-day before heading to Raleigh, North Carolina, to take on the 6-3 Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 28th.
