Cirelli, Vasilevskiy lead the way in a one-sided affair in Las Vegas
Anthony Cirelli scored twice and Andrei Vasilevskiy shielded the net perfectly to shut down the Vegas Golden nights in a late-night affair at T-Mobile Arena. With a rough road trip underway it was important to start it with a statement win and that is what occurred here in Las Vegas. Brandon Hagel continued to find his name on the scoring sheet and Nikita Kucherov would near history with a three-point night.
Hagel serves a late-night bagel
Starting off, the Golden Knights started the physical game early and generated the first handful of scoring opportunities in the game. Vasilevskiy had to play sharp in the opening minutes while the Lightning could not get the puck out of their zone. After a rough three minutes the Lightning would get a power play which has struggled to start the season. However, there would be no struggle here as Hagel extended his point streak to three games with a power play goal to put Tampa Bay in front 1-0. Again, Vegas continued to play the physical play with Charle-Edouard D’Astous taking a hit from Marc Gatcomb which Connor Geekie did not take lightly. He dropped his gloves to fight but Gatcomb would not yield, and Geekie would be penalized as a result.
Golden Knights answer, Lightning respond
Vegas then went on the power play, but the Lightning continued to play well and prevented a tying goal with a successful penalty kill. Just as it seemed the Lightning would control a period a turnover in their zone gave Vegas the perfect chance to score the equalizer. Ivan Barbashev scored his first of the season off the D’Astous turnover tying the game with 6:44 left in the period. Lightning quickly re-gained the lead after John Carlson caught the Golden Knights on a change and buried his own rebound past Carter Hart to give Tampa a 2-1 lead.
Another mistake allows Vegas to even the score
Lightning would get another chance on the power play with 2:54 left in the opening frame after a hi-sticking call against Brayden McNabb. Unfortunately, Vasilevskiy’s pass went to nobody which allowed Mark Stone to retrieve the puck and tie the game with a short-handed goal. All the momentum was gone, and mistakes kept giving Vegas the room they needed to score goals. This had to be corrected immediately to prevent the game from getting out of hand and result in a preventable loss.
Vasilevskiy remains poised in net
Yet another turnover in the beginning of the second period nearly leads to another goal for the Golden Knights but Vasilevskiy was able to make the save. Mitch Marner was sent off the ice for tripping giving the Lightning their third power play of the night that would not last long. D’Astous is sent off for interference after Vegas almost scored again short-handed leading to 4-on-4 hockey for 1:37 before Vegas went on the man advantage. A broken stick nearly led to a Brayden Point goal and then a 2-on-1 the other way nearly gave Vegas the lead which again was stopped by Vasilevskiy. A chaotic 4-on-4 ended, and the game remained tied 2-2 with no shortage of action on the ice. If not for Vasilevskiy the Golden Knights would be running away with this game.
Cirelli charges ahead to widen the lead
After a see-saw effect in which both teams exchanged control of the puck, the Lightning regained the lead thanks to Anthony Cirelli. Cirelli scored his second of the season off a pass from Kucherov to give Tampa Bay the 3-2 lead with over half the period to go. With the assist Kucherov needed only 2 points to pass Steven Stamkos for most points in franchise history. Soon after, Cirelli would tally another off a Jack Eichel turnover giving him not only his second of the night, but his 150th career goal and his 17th career multi point game. Lightning led 4-2 and momentum was once again on their side.
Captain joins in on the fun
Lightning looked to keep the momentum but a Vegas power play due to a holding call against Pontus Holmberg would halt the momentum. Lightning did have a 2-on-1 opportunity with Ilya Mikheyev but that was cut short due to Zemgus Girgensons returning to the bench confusing everyone. Tampa Bay would kill off the penalty keeping the two-goal lead intact in the final minutes of the period. Instead, the lead would gain some insurance with Victor Hedman scoring a one-timer that Hart never saw to extend the lead 5-2 and continue to bring confidence to not just himself, but the team that has struggled to grasp victory on the road.
Kucherov ties the franchise scoring record with style
Even though the Lightning were being outshot 26 to 14 to start the third period, they have the three-goal lead nearly running away with the game. Vasilevskiy continued to be sharp in next making it hard for Vegas to get back in the game. Once again, Vegas would get an early power play and looked to cut the lead down on the man advantage. Tampa’s penalty kill remained perfect and the score remained 5-2. Then, Nikita Kucherov joined in on the scoring with a breakaway goal to extend the lead 6-2 and tie with Stamkos for the franchise lead in points with 1,137. Four of the six goals scored by the Lightning have been unassisted including this one by Kucherov.
The crowd goes mild
Whatever life was left in the arena was wiped out after that goal by Kucherov and the Lightning continued to cruise to another win. Lightning had total control of the game and as the period winded down that was not going to change. After scoring six goals the Lightning would not add another not that they needed to and defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 starting the road trip off perfectly.
Three Stars of the Game
Andrei Vasilevskiy - Saved 32 of 34 shots faced
Nikita Kucherov - 1 goal and 2 assists tying the franchise record for most points in the process
Anthony Cirelli - 2 goals including his 150th goal
Up Next
The Tampa Bay Lightning will continue the road trip in Colorado with a Friday night showdown against the Avalanche. Puck drops at 9:00 pm EST.
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