It’s been a golden season so far for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But the season is only two games old. The Bolts looked great against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vancouver Canucks. Tonight, however, one of their most formidable foes has come to town. The Vegas Golden Knights have come to Amalie Arena hoping to hand our boys their first loss of this young season.
Golden Knights Draw First Blood
Both teams looked pretty fired up from the opening faceoff tonight. The Bolts led on the shot clock, but the first goal of the night went to the Knights. Brayden McNabb blasted a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy just over five minutes in.
The Lightning would strike back at the 10:21 mark when off-season acquisition JJ Moser tallied his first of the season on a wrister past Adin Hill.
JJ’s first as a Bolt 👊#GoBolts | 📺: Bally Sports Sun pic.twitter.com/0i6wi4X5fw
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) October 17, 2024
Just over 14 minutes in, the Lightning took the first penalty of the game. And the Golden Knights made them pay. Pavel Dorofeyev notched his second of the season. And just like that, the Bolts had given up as many goals in the first 15:20 as they’d give up in their first two full games combined!
Kucherov Stays Golden
With time ticking down in the opening frame, the Knights were ready to take their 2-1 lead to the dressing room. But Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov had other ideas. With under 20 seconds remaining, another newly acquired player, Jake Guentzel, came streaking towards the Vegas net. He found who else open but Nikita Kucherov and fed him a perfect pass. Kucherov made no mistake and tied the game with only 13 seconds to go. Kucherov has scored in all three games this season. Tonight’s was number five on this season which ties him for the league lead. Jake Guentzel has also tallied points in each of the Bolts’ three games this season. He has yet to score a goal but is up to four assists.
Guentzel ➡️ Kucherov like clockwork ⏰#SmoothAs | @tullamoredewus pic.twitter.com/boDBA3lRff
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) October 17, 2024
Another Quick Start for the Golden Knights
It did not take long for the Knights to get their lead back. Ivan Barbashev tipped his fourth of the season past Vasilevskiy right before the two-minute mark of period two to put the Knights back on top at 3-2.
One area that has not exactly been golden for the Bolts this year has been the power play. It took until 17:47 of the second period for the Lightning to get a man advantage. Fifty seconds in, it became a five on 3 for a minute and ten seconds. The Bolts had some good chances but just could not find the back of the net. There would be no last second magic this period and this time, the Knights would carry their lead to the dressing room.
A Golden Finish
The Bolts still had some time remaining on their power play to start the final frame but could not capitalize. The rest of the third period went by relatively uneventfully. The Lightning had some chances, but the Knights’ defense and shot-blocking stymied them at every opportunity.
And then, as the two-minute mark was approaching, the crowd’s eyes turned to Vasilevskiy. Would he leave the net in favor of the extra attacker to give the Bolts a better scoring chance? No need! With 2:22 remaining, JJ Moser (who’d gotten his first goal as a Bolt earlier this evening) fed the puck to Mitchell Chaffee who then patiently waited. Chaffee found an open Brandon Hagel. Hagel fired the puck home and we had ourselves a tie game with overtime looming on the horizon.
TIE BAGEL 🥯 pic.twitter.com/BWKfk0TrU9
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) October 18, 2024
But, apparently, Nikita Kucherov did not want to play five extra minutes tonight. As the Amalie faithful heard the announcement of last minute of play in this period, JJ Moser decided he was not done yet for the night. He passed to Victor Hedman and Hedman found Kucherov in front of the net. No stranger to last minute heroics, Kucherov blasted his 6th of the season past Adin Hill to give the Lightning their first lead of the night.
KUCH FOR THE LEAD WITH LESS THAN A MINUTE TO GO 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZDMee99LRC
— Bally Sports Sun: Lightning (@BallyLightning) October 18, 2024
Then, it was Adin Hill who headed to the bench with the Golden Knights pushing for the late-game tying goal. But Vasilevskiy and the boys shut the door to close this one out with a 4-3 final. They move to 3-0 and maintain their golden season.
Three Stars
1- Nikita Kucherov- 2 goals including game winner in the final minute.
2- JJ Moser- 1 goal, 2 assists- a 3-point night.
3- Brandon Hagel- game-tying goal with just over 2 minutes in regulation.
Up Next
The Bolts will hit the road for a three-game stint starting in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. Note the early start time as puck drop is scheduled for 1pm.
