NHL

Vegas Golden Knights at Tampa Bay Lightning

· National Hockey League

Kucherov scores with 55 seconds to play as Lightning rally for 4-3 win over Golden Knights

Lightning storm back in third period to beat Golden Knights

Kucherov's second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten at 3-0-0. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

Kucherov tied it at 2 during a two-on-one with 12.8 seconds left in the first.

Takeaways Golden Knights: The line of Eichel, Barbashev and Mark Stone has combined for eight goals, 19 assists and 27 points through five games.

Lightning: Jake Guentzel was the key free-agent signing with Steven Stamkos leaving for Nashville after 16 years with Tampa Bay. Guentzel has fit in nicely on the first line with Kucherov and Brayden Point, and has four assists.

Key moment Hill made three saves and the Vegas defenders blocked three shots to keep Tampa Bay from scoring during a 1:10 5-on-3 power play late in the second period.

Key stat Kucherov is the second Tampa Bay player to have six goals in the first three games of a season. Chris Kontos held the team record in the Lightning’s inaugural 1992-93 season.

Up next Vegas plays Saturday night at Florida. Tampa Bay travels to Ottawa on Saturday night.

Regular Season Series

TB leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 5:26 Brayden McNabb Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Mark Stone (7), Jack Eichel (7)
Goal 1st Period 10:21 Janis Moser Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Cameron Atkinson (1), Emil Lilleberg (1)
Goal 1st Period 15:20 Pavel Dorofeyev Goal (2) Slap Shot, assists: Shea Theodore (5), Jack Eichel (8)
Goal 1st Period 19:47 Nikita Kucherov Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Jake Guentzel (4)
Goal 2nd Period 1:59 Ivan Barbashev Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Shea Theodore (6)
Goal 3rd Period 17:38 Brandon Hagel Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Mitchell Chaffee (1), Janis Moser (1)
Goal 3rd Period 19:05 Nikita Kucherov Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Victor Hedman (4), Janis Moser (2)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/vgk.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originVGK https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB
20 Blocked Shots 9
16 Hits 22
4 Takeaways 2
25 Shots 25
1 Power Play Goals 0
3 Power Play Opportunities 2
33.3 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
26 Faceoffs Won 20
56.5 Faceoff Win Percent 43.5
13 Giveaways 13
2 Total Penalties 3
4 Penalty Minutes 6
Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Victor Hedman, D Out Mar 25
Maxwell Crozier, D Injured Reserve Mar 19
Declan Carlile, D Injured Reserve Mar 14
Dominic James, C Injured Reserve Mar 5
Vegas Golden Knights Vegas Golden Knights Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE

Game Information

Benchmark International Arena

Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:

2025-26 Pacific Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Anaheim 41 27 86 4
Edmonton 36 28 81 9
Vegas 32 26 79 15
Los Angeles 29 25 76 18
Seattle 32 29 74 10
San Jose 32 31 71 7
Calgary 30 34 68 8
Vancouver 21 42 50 8

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 44 21 96 8
Tampa Bay 44 21 94 6
Montreal 40 21 90 10
Boston 40 24 88 8
Ottawa 38 24 86 10
Detroit 39 25 86 8
Toronto 31 29 75 13
Florida 35 33 73 3
Full Standings