FSM Essential Game Recap: VGK vs Tampa Bay Lightning - Game 55

VGK vs Tampa Bay Lightning

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Coming into Tampa Bay, the Las Vegas Golden Knights (27-20-7) had a lot of confidence after their back to back wins over the weekend against Nashville and Carolina.

The Golden Knights, only four days from their return home, end their eight-game road stretch with what is possibly their biggest road test this season — facing the red hot Tampa Bay Lightning (32-15-5) on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay is 20-5 in the last two months, dominating most of the games they’ve played. The Lightning come into tonight’s game riding a six-game home win streak and back to back wins against San Jose and Anaheim. The Golden Knights have been playing their best hockey over the last month. Adapting coach Peter DeBoer’s offensive strategy, Vegas has played much more consistent and has found a real groove as a team.

An exciting first period, which saw three goals scored within the last ten minutes of the period, ended with the Lightning leading 2-1. However, this explosion of offense didn’t continue in the second, with both teams going scoreless for the entire period. Both sides upped their defensive stances, constantly intercepting passes and stealing the puck away from opposing players. The Knights, unable to penetrate the Lightning’s 4th ranked penalty kill special team, relented to opening the third period with a Paul Stastny goal early, his 16th goal this season. The score tied the game at 2-2.

The goal by Stastny was short-lived. Steven Stamkos hit from over 20 ft away on his first shot of the night to once again take the lead at 3-2. Tampa Bay made three goals with only 16 shots on goal. In comparison, the Golden Knights had over 27 shots on goal, putting pressure on Goalie Andrei Vaslevskiy to keep them out for the remainder of the game to avoid overtime.

The Knights doubled down on that pressure when Coach DeBoer decided top go empty net with over two minutes left in the game. But the smothering defense of the Lightning suffocated the Golden Knights’ six-man offensive push, keeping them at center ice. Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn put the finishing touches on the game with an open net goal with 44 seconds left, ending it 4-2, and pushing Tampa Bay to seven consecutive wins at home. The Golden Knights went home with another tough loss after a well-played game.

Even though the Knights lost this game, the lessons from it will carry over into their long-awaited return to the ‘Fortress’ in Las Vegas on Feb. 8th against Carolina. First, the Knights have to complete their road game stint with a date with the Florida panthers (29-17-6).

The Panthers will be another hard road test for the Golden Knights. However, if Peter DeBoer’s team can continue the inspired play that they have displayed over the last few weeks, the Knights can come home with confidence and in a position to fight for the lead in the Pacific division; behind Vancouver and Edmonton.

Although this game didn’t go well for this progressing Knights team, they still have an opportunity to make something special happen with the upcoming finish to this season.

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Las Vegas! If you want another great place to watch the game, head to Al’s Garage in Summerlin. There are multiple televisions to watch all the games. Al’s has “Happy Hour” starting at 9 AM and ending at 9 PM. Al’s Garage is located at 11760 W. Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135. Tell them, “The Franchise sent you!!”

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