Mark Stone scored the game-winning goal in the bottom of the seventh round of the shootout Saturday night as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the host Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in their final regular-season meeting.
After a dazzling display of goaltending in the three-on-three overtime, the Golden Knights captain skated in and scored Vegas’ fourth goal in the session, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy on the blocker side.
Goalie Robin Lehner (18-12-1) stopped four of the Lightning’s attempts, including Pat Maroon’s in the top of the seventh to set up Stone’s winning tally.
Vegas improved to 6-3 in overtime. Meanwhile, the Lightning dropped to 8-6.
Lehner made 27 saves in the win, while Vasilevskiy (24-7-4) stopped 25 shots as Vegas earned a split in the two-game season series with Tampa Bay.
William Carrier and former Lightning draft pick Brett Howden each notched a goal and an assist for Vegas, which is 5-3-0 all-time against the Lightning.
Shortly before the start of the match, Vegas placed top-line center Chandler Stephenson — its leading point-producer with 12 goals and 26 assists — and defenseman Dylan Coghlan in COVID-19 protocol.
Corey Perry registered a goal and an assist, and Ross Colton scored. But the Lightning saw their three-game home winning streak end in losing for the second time in eight games (6-1-1).
After scoring first but losing 4-1 in South Florida to the Florida Panthers Thursday, Vegas broke the ice again in its finale of a four-game road trip (2-1-1).
A first-round draft pick (27th overall) by Tampa Bay in 2016, Howden followed up a rebound of Carrier’s shot in close on Vasilevskiy and potted his sixth goal at 5:25 of the first period.
In a busy play around the Tampa Bay net with bodies in front in the second, Carrier sent a pass across the crease. The puck struck Lightning defenseman Fredrik Claesson and bounced in at 14:56 for his fifth marker and a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Vegas put together two crucial penalty kills in the first 10 minutes, allowing four shots but keeping Tampa Bay off the board.
But Colton scored just as a third power play ended at 13:12 — his ninth tally — to make it 2-1.
Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy during a stoppage with 2:58 to play, and Perry was credited with the tying goal, his 12th, in a scrum around Lehner as the club outshot Vegas 17-1 in the period.
–Field Level Media
