Coming off Saturday’s disappointing defensive performance in Utah, the Lightning wanted to play a tighter defensive game against Vegas. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Once again, the Lightning struggled to limit Grade-A scoring chances. Vegas made them pay, netting three first-period goals and building a lead that Ilya Samsonov helped them protect.
The Golden Knights recorded 13 first-period shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 10 of them. Many of those were high-danger looks. He made saves on breakaways, saves on point-blank chances from the slot, and saves on close-range rebounds. But three pucks got past him. During a Vegas power play, Nic Roy finished a shot from the top of the crease at 11:02. Soon after, the Lightning failed to clear the defensive zone and allowed a wide-open shot from Tomas Hertl in the slot. The puck hit the shaft of Vasilevskiy’s stick and caromed into the net at 13:33. Then, in the period’s final minute, Jack Eichel zipped a left-circle shot just inside the far post at 19:13. The Eichel tally came four seconds after a Lightning penalty ended.
The Lightning might have been able to outscore their defensive problems in this game, but Samsonov gave his team a terrific outing. Through the first two periods, the Lightning generated plenty of scoring chances (though many weren’t as dangerous as those Vegas first-period looks). The Lightning did convert on one of those opportunities — Nick Paul’s wrist shot on a two-on-one cut the Vegas lead to 3-1 at 17:18.
But in the third period, the Golden Knights did well to protect their lead. The Lightning had a tougher time sustaining offensive-zone pressure. After posting 28 shots on goal during the opening 40 minutes, they had only nine SOG in the third. The teams traded goals near the end of the game. After an empty-net goal from Nic Hague made it 4-1, Nikita Kucherov tallied a power-play goal in the closing seconds. It was his 30th of the season.
The Lightning have a dozen games left in the regular season, and seven of those are at home. They’ll look to get back on track defensively when they open a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Pittsburgh.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Ilya Samsonov — Golden Knights. 35 saves.
- Jack Eichel — Golden Knights. Goal.
- Nic Roy — Golden Knights. Goal.
