Fast start not enough as Lightning strike back against Golden Knights

Vegas was outscored 6-1 after a fast start resulting in the team’s second regulation home loss of the homestand.

The team lost, 6-3, to Tampa Bay Thursday, Nov. 6 from the T-Mobile Arena. It’s the second regulation home loss of the season for the Golden Knights after beginning the year 3-0-1 at home.

Both losses have come on this season-long six-game homestand.

“It’s been stagnant for a while,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So it’s another thing I’ve got to sort out. I know we miss [captain] Mark Stone and we have a certain way of running things but we should be good enough to generate a little bit more.”

The VGK are 7-3-3 on the year, good for 17 points.

Vegas will continue its season-long homestand Saturday, Nov. 8 from the T-Mobile Arena with puck drop set for 7 p.m.

Pacific Division implications will be in effect with the Anaheim Ducks in town. They lead the division following a, 7-5, win on the road over Dallas.

Anaheim is now 9-3-1 with 19 points this season.

“There’s going to be ups and downs in a season,” right-wing Mitch Marner said. “That’s how the season goes. You can get so high and feeling good and it can come down quickly on you.”

Vegas defended the power play well for most of the night with Tampa Bay entering the game 28th in the league with a man advantage.

A second after the third penalty kill of the night, goalie Carl Lindbom had a puck snuck by him as the VGK went down for the first time in the game.

Forty-eight seconds later, the game would be tied on a goal from Marner. Only to have that countered by another go-ahead by the Lightning.

At that point, fans in attendance had seen three third period goals scored within a minute and 13 seconds of each other.

“The penalties tonight hurt us,” Cassidy said. “Then in the third [period], we didn’t have enough of a push on our power play.”

Later in the period, Tampa Bay would score on the power play for the first time. It went 1-for-4 with the man advantage Thursday night.

On the other hand, Vegas had all three of its penalty chances killed including one late in regulation before going to the empty net.

The Lightning would light the lamp in that goalie-less net to go up three goals with less than 47 seconds left in the game.

“You’re 2-2 and you’re starting fresh,” Cassidy said. “Then we got a too many men on ice [penalty] so players got to be aware. But obviously, I’ve got to catch that.”

Tampa Bay didn’t find its footing until the second period when it scored twice in the first 3:28 of the frame. The first goal scored was the first given up by the Vegas defense since the third period of Friday’s loss to Colorado.

In between, the team shutout Detroit in a 1-0 victory.

“[In the first period] all those things went our way,” Cassidy said. “In the second period, they did the exact same thing. We weren’t able to close in the d-zone. So we spent a lot of energy on our end, standing around getting fatigued.”

Left-wing Ivan Barbashev got the Knights off to their fast start with two first period goals in just over five minutes of ice time. The first of the two came off assists from Marner and defenseman Noah Hanifin, who played in just his second game back from an undisclosed lower body injury sustained in the team’s season opener.

Barbashev would find the back of the net again more than 15 minutes into the period off another assist from Marner in addition to teammate Jack Eichel. Over the last two games, Barbashev has tallied four points including three goals.

“He’s around the net,” Cassidy said. “I think he understands Jack very well, it’s probably why I always go back to it. He knows Jack’s scheme, he knows how Jack’s going to play in the o-zone. At some point, he’s got to weave his way through to those scoring areas.

“That needs to rub off on a few other guys. So again, that’s on me to make sure to drill that message home that in order to score in this league, you’ve got to get to interior ice.”

Marner picked up three points in 23 shifts including that flash goal in the third period.

In that opening period, Vegas outshot Tampa Bay, 15-3. In the remaining 40 minutes, the Golden Knights were outshot 24-17.

“Great first period for us,” Cassidy said. “Probably the best period we’ve played all around.”