The Tampa Bay Lightning had another rough loss coming back from the break, meanwhile, the Knights continued to dominate in their first year and got the win. The Bolts looked like they were still rusty from the break as they made too many silly mistakes. Vegas was able to capitalize on the Bolts mistakes and make the most of them as they bounce back after losing two games. Let’s take a look at how we got here period by period.

First Period

The Bolts looked rusty early as Vegas came out flying getting multiple scoring chances. Then it was the former Bolts Jason Garrison who took a shot from the point that was deflected by All-Star James Neal to get by Vasy and make it 1-0 Knights. The Knights continued to put on some nice pressure as we passed the halfway mark of period number 1. Knights net minder Fleury looked good early as he made a nice save on Tyler Johnson who just flew by the Knights defense. Vegas continued to capitalize on the Bolts turnovers as they continued to dominate play. Vegas would once again capitalize as Nate Schmidt got a stick on a blast from McNabb to put the Knights up 2-0. The first was all Knights as they forced turnovers created good chances and played well on defense. The Bolts looked very rusty, probably because of the bye week but would need to adjust if they wanted to get back into this one.

Goals: 1-0 Vegas

Shots: 12-8 Tampa Bay

Second Period

The Bolts had a much better start in the 2nd getting a few chances early and keeping the Knights on their toes. It continued to be a rather slow period as both teams went back and forth exchanging chances. Neither team had committed a penalty either after they committed over 6 the last time they played each other. However that all changed as William Karlsson got 2 for tripping. The Bolts put some nice pressure on early but couldn’t get anything going, However, Stamkos set up Palat right in front of the net so he could tap it home to make it a 2-1 hockey game. The Bolts continued to put on some nice pressure getting a few big chances but none made it into the back of the net. Yanni Gourde would then get 2 for hooking and give the Knights their first power play opportunity, but the Bolts PK unit stood tall and turned them away.  Not much later Sergachev got caught up in the neutral zone as David Perron then made a great dangle on a 2 on 1 to put the Knights up 3-1. Despite a much better period the Bolts were still down 2 after the second.

Goals: 3-1 Vegas

Shots: 21-19 Tampa Bay

Third Period

Things didn’t get better for the Bolts as the Knights won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Karlsson ripped one home to make it 4-1 Knights early in the third. Dotchin then got called for slashing and put the Bolts on the PK. The Bolts once again did their job and killed off the penalty to keep the score at 4-1. The Knights would then get themselves into a pinch as Bellemare took an interference call and put the Bolts on the man advantage. Towards the end of the power play, Karlsson then took a tripping penalty and gave the Bolts a big 5 on 3 opportunity. However, the Bolts wouldn’t convert on either powerplay and the score remained 4-1 Knights. The Knights then proceeded to drain out the Bolts for the rest of the period and take home the win.

Goals: 4-1 Vegas

Shots 29-29

3 Stars

1. David Perron (1G, 1A)
2. Marc-Andre Fleury (28 SV)
3. Ondrej Palat (1G)

Up Next and Final Strike

This was another rough game for the Bolts, as they looked terrible defensively and made way too many turnovers. Hopefully, the Bolts defensive issues were due to rust and not because of Hedman’s absence. The Bolts will need to bounce back quickly though as they are now in the hardest part of the season. With that said look for the Bolts to bounce back in their next game.

The Bolts will look to rebound from the loss as they get set to enter an 8 game road trip. First up will be the Minnesota Wild, January 20th, at 9:00PM.