By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
VGK winger Mark Stone took a feed from linemate Max Pacioretty, made a gorgeous move on Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and backhanded the puck into the net to give the Golden Knights 3-2 lead with less than four minutes left in period two.
The Knights never looked back. Ryan Reaves and Pacioretty netted goals at the start of period three to give the VGK a 5-2 lead over the red-hot Lightning and the Knights came away with a solid 5-3 win before 18,376 at the Big Ice House by the Strip Thursday evening.
The Stone goal countered a goal by Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos that tied the game at two apiece in the second period. Stamkos added the Lightning’s third goal with two minutes left in the game.
Fans enjoyed the big VGK win that stopped the Lightning win streak at 11.
The game also marked the debut of VGK defenseman Alec Martinez, who was acquired by Vegas from the LA Kings and was paired with VGK scrappy defenseman Jon Merrill.
Martinez celebrated his first VGK game with a goal in period one to knot the score at one.
Here’s Martinez after the game.
Reaves post-game at his locker.
Pacioretty on the win streak.
VGK coach Pete DeBoer with his post-game comments:
Here’s a sample of DeBoer after the VGK 5-3 win.
The Knights improved to 32-22-8 and have 72 points in the ultra-tight Pacific Division.
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