Tampa Bay, Fl—On Thursday night, Nicholas Paul buried the game-winning goal with 1:13 remaining in the third period. He also added two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning won 5-4 over the injury-affected , but top-ranked Vegas Golden Knights.

NHL points leader, Tampa Bay right wing Nikita Kucherov, added a goal and two assists. Brayden Point recorded two goals and an assist, while Alex Barré-Boulet added another goal for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves in goal.

The Stanley Cup champs, coming off a 6-3 beating in Carolina on Tuesday, saw two goals scored by Jonathan Marchessault. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter netted the remaining goals, and Jack Eichel continued his franchise-record point streak with two assists, extending it to 12 games.

In his third appearance of the season and fifth overall, Jiri Patera stepped in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body), making 31 saves.

With three seconds remaining, Vasilevskiy let a puck slip past, but dove on it. Putting a stop to Eichel’s excellent scoring opportunity.

“It’s tough to swallow knowing that you did a lot of good things in the third to give yourself a chance to win,” Eichel said. “It’s tough to find positives when you don’t get any points here.”

Vegas got back within one on a power play goal from Marchessault five minutes into the third period making it 4-3. The PP was on an unsportsmanlike conduct given to Kucherov. The Golden Knights won the opening draw and quickly set up Marchessault for a one-timer from the slot just 16 seconds into the man advantage.

“I was standing right besides him when the ref called the penalty,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was an uncharacteristic call for a referee. It struck a chord for some reason. I wasn’t putting anything on Kuch at all.”

Kucherov now has 57 points on the season.

At 9:44 in the third Paul Cotter capped a shift full of pressure from Vegas. He beat Vasilevskiy with a shot through a heavy screen in front.

With just over a minute left, Patera made a kick-save. Big mistake, Paul rebounded, and fired home the winning goal.

Up next for the Vegas Golden Knights(21-8-5), they are at the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

For all the latest on the Las Vegas Golden Knights follow @vinquezada1 on X

#NHL #VegasBorn #GoBolts

By Vincent Quezada

Photo Credit: AP/ Chris O’Meara

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