TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Down two goals and mired in a losing streak, the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t fold.
Instead, they rallied to beat the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
Alex Tuch scored the only goal in a shootout and the Golden Knights halted a four-game skid with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night.
Vegas got goals from Cody Eakin and Valentin Zykov in regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots.
“Definitely a good feeling,” Fleury said. “Playing the best team and coming up with a win is a good confidence booster.”
Brayden Point and Mathieu Joseph scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves. Steven Stamkos had two assists to give him 14 points over his last 10 games.
“It wasn’t our worst game we’ve played all year, it wasn’t our best,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It comes down to the shootout. Two good goalies, it’s probably just going to take one.”
The Golden Knights, helped by a power play, outshot Tampa Bay 6-0 in overtime.
“Vasy stood tall,” Stamkos said.
Vegas had lost five of six coming in. The Golden Knights scored seven times in the victory and had a combined seven goals in the losses.
“I know we lost the past four games before this, but even though it was in a shootout I thought that we played hard and played pretty good defensively,” Tuch said.
Zykov tied it 2-all 5:22 into the third period on his fifth career goal and first since March 26.
Tampa Bay took a 2-0 lead at 14:19 of the second when a video review overturned a no-goal call on Joseph for goalie interference. Stamkos’ shot went off a Vegas defender and Fleury before going into the net off Joseph.
Eakin made it 2-1 on a breakaway 2:09 later off a pass from Jon Merrill.
“It was big. It got us back in the hockey game,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “We played a good, hard game against a real good team. So, we’re happy to end that streak, for sure.”
Point opened the scoring 6:36 into the game with his 31st goal on a power play. He returned after missing one game with what appeared to be a right leg injury.
Nikita Kucherov got his 59th assist on Point’s goal and has an NHL-best 81 points.
The Lightning’s league-leading power play went 1 for 5 against the Golden Knights, who ranked second on the penalty kill. Vegas failed to score on three power plays, including one that came late in the third.
Golden Knights center Ryan Carpenter was shaken up late in the second after going into the boards on a check by Cedric Paquette. Carpenter tried skating off the ice twice on his own and needed a teammate and later a linesman to keep him from falling to the ice.
Gallant had no update after the game on Carpenter’s injury.
NOTES: Paul Stastny’s seven-game point streak ended. Stastny had three quality chances stopped by Vasilevskiy. … Lightning RW Ryan Callahan was scratched for the third time in four games.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Complete a four-game trip Thursday night at Detroit.
Lightning: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
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