National Hockey League
Tampa Bay 3, Vegas 2
When: 6:00 PM ET, Friday, October 26, 2018
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Referees: Graham Skilliter, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Derek Nansen, Andrew Smith
Attendance: 18207

Brayden Point scored his team-leading sixth goal to spoil Nevada Day as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Tyler Johnson and J.T. Miller scored for the Lightning, who are 7-1-1 to start the season and beat the Golden Knights for the first time in team history.

Nikita Kucherov's assist on Point's tally gave him a seven-game point streak, the second-longest in the league behind Sebastian Aho's nine for Carolina.

Vegas' Shea Theodore and William Karlsson had goals -- the latter on the power play against the NHL's top-ranked penalty kill in the third period to cut the home team's deficit to 3-2.

Left winger Max Pacioretty, a key offseason acquisition from Montreal, was injured in the first period and skated only two shifts for the Golden Knights.

Vegas has scored two goals or fewer in eight of its 10 games.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, who turned in a 22-save shutout in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, made 29 saves for the Lightning.

Marc-Andre Fleury, named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on Oct. 22, made his fifth straight start and recorded 20 saves for Vegas.

The game was a rare weekday matinee honoring Nevada Day, a last-Friday-in-October commemoration of the Silver State's admission to statehood in 1864. The Golden Knights wore their white road jerseys for the state holiday.

However, Tampa Bay celebrated first when Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb swept out a puck in the low slot, right onto the stick of Johnson, who buried it for his fourth goal at 3:05.

Theodore became the Golden Knights' first defenseman to score this season with his blast from near the blue line at 5:31 to tie it. Vegas entered the game as the only NHL team not to have registered a goal from its defensive corps.

Point scored when he tipped in a pass from Stamkos at 16:38 as the Lightning carried a 2-1 lead into intermission.

Miller recorded his third goal on the power play at 4:47 of the second, his 27th point in 27 games for the Lightning after being traded by the New York Rangers last Feb. 26.

Karlsson's power-play tally came less than two minutes into the third, but the Golden Knights could not find an equalizer.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   Vegas
Tyler Johnson 1 Points William Karlsson 1
Tyler Johnson 1 Goals William Karlsson 1
Alex Killorn 1 Assists Ryan Carpenter 1
J.T. Miller 1 Power Play Goals William Karlsson 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Andrei Vasilevskiy .935 Save Percentage Marc-Andre Fleury .870
Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 Saves Marc-Andre Fleury 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 23 3 1-2 3-4 8 33
Vegas 31 2 1-4 1-2 4 32
Upcoming Games
  • Vegas will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Golden Knights have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .400 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Arizona. The Lightning have a W/L % of .714 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.