TAMPA, Fla. — This was the game you were waiting for. This was the team you remembered.
The Lightning played fast, smart and tough. They were aggressive, controlled and patient.
And somehow, they still lost.
Alec Martinez scored with 1:53 remaining in overtime to lift the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win and send the Lightning to their ninth loss in the last 12 games.
After falling behind by two goals in a fight-filled third period, the Lightning got goals from Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point in the final 127 seconds to send the game to overtime.
William Karlsson scored on a shorthanded breakaway after the puck bounced over Mikhail Sergachev’s stick at the blue line to break a 1-1 tie 2:27 into the third period. Vegas eventually went up 3-1 before the temperature was raised on the ice.
The tight, well-played game got a little chippy late in the second period and then turned nasty halfway through the third. Pat Maroon popped Keegan Kolesar in the face after a hit from behind, and that led to multiple fights that took several minutes for officials to break up.
Maroon ended up with a double minor and a 10-minute misconduct with 7:44 remaining, which seriously damaged any hope for a comeback.
The bad blood had been brewing ever since Tanner Jeannot knocked down Vegas star Jack Eichel twice on the same shift in the second period. Defenseman Brayden McNabb took offense and squared off against Jeannot in a brief fight that led to a Lightning power play.
Later, McNabb was called for a double minor after a high stick caught Maroon in the face with 21 seconds remaining. in the second As the buzzer sounded, Alex Pietrangelo spun and tripped Kucherov as he skated toward the Vegas net. Stamkos immediately cross-checked Pietrangelo and knocked him to the ice as scuffles broke out all around. Stamkos was called for the penalty, which wiped out half of the Lightning’s one-man advantage.
After stumbling early against the Flyers in the first six minutes on Tuesday, the Lightning upped the ante on Thursday.
With Tampa Bay making its first shift change 27 seconds into the game, Vegas pushed the puck up the right side and Haydn Fleury was left backpedaling in a 2-on-1 rush. While Fleury slid in front of the net to prevent a shot, Teddy Blueger paused briefly before sending a pass to Kolesar for an easy tap-in.
But, just as they did against Philadelphia, the Lightning answered quickly. Point skated quickly through the neutral zone before sending a pass to Stamkos and heading toward the net. Stamkos passed to Kucherov for a one-timer with Point in front of the goal to knock in the rebound.
The Lightning played their second consecutive game without defenseman Victor Hedman, who went into the boards awkwardly in Carolina on Sunday. Hedman returned to practice on Wednesday, took part in Thursday’s morning skate and said later he was “trending in the right direction.”
