Nick Paul scored late in the second period and Nikita Kucherov late in the third Sunday night, but it was too little, too late in the Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the Golden Knights.
Otherwise, Tampa Bay was unable to solve Vegas goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who stopped 35 of 37 shots.
“We had a lot of great looks. Their goalie played really well (Sunday),” said Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. ”They had a ton of great chances, too."
The loss was the second straight for Tampa Bay, which dropped two of three on its three-game trip to Dallas, Utah and Vegas, and five of its last eight.
“The boys tried,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I can’t say they didn’t give effort. The issue for us was execution, and probably the mental side of things we probably didn’t do the right things of what we needed to win, and then ultimately the turnovers pop into our game at some inopportune times.”
The Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Paul put the Lightning on the board with 2:22 left in the second period.
“They got a lead and they were comfortable with it,” Cooper said. “That’s what they wanted to do, and they just sit on it. They probably could have played four more periods and still had it. So, we couldn’t give them the lead like that and we did, and it was too much for us.”
After Nic Hague scored into an empty net to restore Vegas' three-goal lead, Kucherov scored on a 6-on-4 power play with five seconds remaining for the final margin.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced.
Nic Roy opened the scoring with his 11th goal of the season 11 minutes into the game.
Vegas’ Tomas Hertl continued his hot streak one night after netting his second hat trick this season. He scored his team-high 31st goal with 6:27 left in the first period to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.
Jack Eichel scored his 24th to give the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead with less than a minute left in the period.
“That last goal at the end of the first period, we’re out of the penalty kill, kind of played for a break, it didn’t work out, they buried it, and now you’re down three (goals) with two (periods) to go,” Cooper said. “Against a team like that, it’s tough to come back.”
The Lightning, who had won three straight before dropping their last two, hope to regain their momentum as they return home. They open a three-game homestand Tuesday against the Penguins at Amalie Arena, where they have won eight of their last nine.
With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Lightning (40-25-5) remain in third place in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the second-place Maple Leafs and four behind the division-leading Panthers, who beat the Penguins Sunday.
“Kind of the message in here throughout the guys is just, let’s start building something here,” Hagel said. “It’s not just a light switch that turns on 12 games from now. It’s gotta start now.”
Key moment
Hertl, who has seven goals in the team’s last four home games, left late in the third period with what appeared to be an upper-body injury. After having his breakaway attempt stymied by Vasilevskiy, Hertl slammed into the boards after being shoved by Tampa Bay defenseman Emil Lilleberg, who was assessed a penalty for boarding.
Key stat
Though both teams boast two of the most potent power-play units — the Golden Knights rank second in the NHL while Tampa Bay ranks fifth — the teams combined to go 2-for-8 with the man advantage.
