LAS VEGAS — For one period, it looked like vintage Vegas. Ivan Barbashev scored twice, the Golden Knights controlled play, and Tampa Bay went more than 15 minutes without a shot.
Then, the Lightning struck.
From there, momentum swung hard in the second period. Tampa flipped the game with two goals, including one just 36 seconds after the puck dropped. The burst erased a 2-0 deficit. Rookie goalie Carl Lindbom, making his first start in place of Adin Hill, faced 15 shots in the frame as Tampa tied it 2-2 heading into the third.
Early in the final period, Nikita Kucherov’s first of two goals gave Tampa its first lead. Even so, Mitch Marner answered less than a minute later off a setup from Jack Eichel and Barbashev. Still, the momentum didn’t last long. Brandon Hagel scored 35 seconds later, and Kucherov added a power-play goal midway through the period. As a result, Vegas spent much of the frame shorthanded, taking four penalties to Tampa’s two. The imbalance sapped their rhythm and flipped the ice in Tampa’s favor.
Afterward, Las Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t sugarcoat it. “The penalties tonight hurt us,” he said. “And in the third, we didn’t have enough of a push on our power play.”
By the time Tampa’s lead stretched to 5-3, fans began heading for the exits. The early buzz inside T-Mobile faded into quiet frustration. Ultimately, the loss dropped Vegas to 8-4-1 and into second place in the Pacific Division, one point behind a surging Anaheim team that has won five straight.