TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied to beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Thursday night.
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.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
