The Golden Knights’ three-game homestand ended in a rough one Tuesday night, a 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that got away from Vegas after a promising start. The teams traded goals early, but Anthony Cirelli broke the game open in the second period with two goals, scoring at 6:44 and 10:09 as Tampa Bay pulled away.
There were a few bright spots buried in the defeat, starting with Ivan Barbashev. He scored his first goal of the season in the first period, becoming the 11th different Golden Knights player to score in 11 games. With opponents focused on Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, and Mark Stone, the secondary scoring lane is there for Vegas, and Barbashev took advantage of it.
Stone also kept his own run going. His goal extended his streak to three straight games, giving the captain another early-season surge that’s easy to miss while Eichel’s point chase grabs the headlines. Stone is up to 15 points, while Eichel remains at 18.
But the losses pile up faster than the wins in a game like this, and Carter Hart had one of the toughest nights of his time with Vegas. Hart allowed more than five goals for the first time in almost a calendar year.
Since joining the Golden Knights last December, he had put together a strong stretch, including helping push Vegas to the Stanley Cup Final when he returned in April. Tuesday was a different story, and the number in the box score made that clear.
Eichel, meanwhile, was kept quiet in an unusual way. Entering the matchup, he had points in all but two games this season and had racked up six points over his previous three.
Tampa Bay blanked him on the scoresheet and held him without a shot on goal. It was the second straight game in which Eichel went without a shot, though he still managed two assists against the Penguins over the weekend.
Against the Lightning, only Eichel and Nic Dowd finished without a shot for Vegas.
And once again, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy made life miserable for the Golden Knights. NHL.com statistics show no player in league history has posted a higher points-per-game average against Vegas, minimum five games, than Kucherov.
He added three points Tuesday and pushed his career average against the Golden Knights to 1.93 points per game. Vasilevskiy backed him up with 32 saves, earning his ninth career win against Vegas and tying Jordan Binnington for the most all-time against the club.
Now the Golden Knights move on to a two-game road trip that starts Thursday in St. Louis against the Blues and continues Saturday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. Vegas has not lost back-to-back games yet this season.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Risk Losing Young Defenseman In Latest Roster Shuffle
The Golden Knights made another roster move that could test their defensive depth, placing Lukas Cormier on waivers and opening the door for any NHL team to claim the young defenseman. If he clears, Vegas can send him to the Henderson Silver Knights in the AHL, a path that would keep him in the organization but continue his development at a lower level.
The shuffle also brought forward Alex Holtz up from Henderson, giving Vegas another option up front as it adjusts its lineup. For Cormier, though, the bigger question is whether he makes it through waivers and remains part of the system, or whether another club decides to take a chance on him first. [Read more 🡒]
Carter Harts New Mask Says A Lot About His Vegas Mindset
Carter Harts latest bit of Vegas flair came in the form of a new goalie mask, one that leans hard into the citys identity while also telling a little bit about the player wearing it. The design features Elvis Presley, a nod that came from a friends suggestion, and was brought to life by artist Frannie Drummond with a gold Presley signature, a TCB logo, a cross symbolizing Harts faith and the Golden Knights 10th anniversary logo.
For a goalie in a city that prizes style as much as results, it is a fitting visual. Hart has talked about how grateful he is to be part of the Vegas organization and about wanting to help carry the teams winning culture forward, and the mask feels like a small but clear sign of how he sees his place there. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Exposed A Problem Fans Cannot Ignore
The Golden Knights entered the second period tied 2-2 with Tampa Bay, but the game quickly slipped away from there in a 6-2 loss that left plenty to sort through. For a team that has built its identity on structure and control, the way things unraveled after the opening 20 minutes was hard to miss, especially with captain Mark Stone and head coach Ryan Craig both pointing to the performance as a step back.
Vegas was already dealing with the kind of night that forces a close look at details, and the second-period stretch only sharpened the issue. The Golden Knights allowed three goals in that frame and never found a way to steady themselves, leaving the postgame focus on what needs to change before a similar lapse costs them again. [Read more 🡒]