Alec Martinez chipped in the game-winning marker with a head-first dive in overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the host Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Thursday night.
After the Lightning tied it with two goals in the closing 2:07, Vegas center Jack Eichel sent a shot from the slot that was partially stopped by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (17 saves).
As it trickled near the goal line, Martinez dove in and got a piece of the puck for his second goal as the Knights won for the fourth time in five games.
Keegan Kolesar, William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson also scored as Vegas swept the season series from Tampa Bay and moved to 19-8-2 against the Eastern Conference.
With Adin Hill listed as day to day, Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots in his second start and second win for the club.
Brayden Point’s two goals tied his career-high 41 set in the 2018-19 season. He also had an assist.
On Point’s 40th tally, Nikita Kucherov – who also had a goal — dished the primary assist to stretch his club-record home point streak to 23 games.
Kucherov added another helper on Point’s last-minute, tying goal. Mikhail Sergachev had two assists.
The Lightning played their second game without star defenseman Victor Hedman (undisclosed).
The visitors’ fourth line caught the Lightning in a two-on-one rush led by Teddy Blueger just 27 seconds into the match. He found Kolesar on the back post, leading to an easy tap-in for the right winger’s seventh goal.
But Point evened the game at 1-1 as the Lightning outshot Vegas 10-4 in the frame.
At 2:27 of the third while being fouled by Sergachev on a breakaway, Karlsson got enough of the puck to push it in for his 12th goal.
His short-handed tally was the eighth by Vegas and 11th allowed by the Lightning, which tied Tampa Bay with Vancouver and Detroit for the most in the league.
Just over three minutes later, Shea Theodore blistered a one-timer that knuckled its way, hit Stephenson and went in for the third-line center’s 13th tally for a 3-1 lead.
With Vasilevskiy off for the extra skater, Kucherov rocketed his 26th goal at 17:53. Point tied it on a six-on-four power play with 28 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
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