Lightning, Vasilevskiy streaks end in loss to Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- The Tampa Bay Lightning had their 11-game winning streak end in a 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Tampa Bay (40-16-5) lost for the first time since Jan. 27, 3-2 in overtime at the Dallas Stars. It's the Lightning's first loss in regulation since Jan. 16 at the Minnesota Wild.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 28 saves, had his 21-game point streak end (19-0-2). It was his first loss in regulation since Dec. 14 against the Washington Capitals.
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Steven Stamkos scored twice for the Lightning, who trail the Boston Bruins by three points for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"It felt like we were a little slow tonight," Stamkos said. "We were just a little loose. We got away from the way you've got to play against a team like that.
"We knew we were on a great streak, but you've still got to play well to beat really good teams in this league. We didn't play our best tonight. We'll refocus and hopefully start a new streak."

Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for Vegas (32-22-8), which has won four straight and leads the Pacific Division by one point over the Edmonton Oilers.
"They're a skilled group. No surprise, 11 games in a row. We don't worry about that. We just worry about our game," Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty said. "[We're] trying to build on our game every day in practice and I think we did a good job of that."
Alec Martinez had a goal and an assist in his Golden Knights debut. The defenseman was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for a second-round pick in the 2020 and 2021 NHL Draft. Martinez was a plus-3 in 20:10 and led Vegas with four blocked shots.
"Definitely felt a lot more comfortable as the game went on," Martinez said. "Personally, I wasn't as sharp as I'd like to be. I think I might have to cut myself some slack."
Vegas, 7-2-1 in its past 10 games, is 8-3-2 since Peter DeBoer was named coach on Jan. 15.
"I think our group is starting to believe in each other and starting to gain some confidence," DeBoer said.
Mark Stone scored on a 2-on-1 to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead at 16:39 of the second period. Martinez had an assist for his 200th NHL point.
"We didn't manage the puck, and to give them a breakaway to a pretty darned good player, that's the stuff we hadn't been doing in the run we're on," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "And obviously the first minute of the third was the backbreaker for us."
Vegas scored twice in the opening 47 seconds of the third period. Ryan Reaves scored 10 seconds in for a 4-2 lead, and Pacioretty scored on the power play 37 seconds later to make it 5-2.
"The start of the third is not the way we wanted," Stamkos said. "That was a tough one."

Stamkos scored his second goal at 18:00 on the power play for the 5-3 final.
Kevin Shattenkirk gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 7:02 of the first period when his backhand attempt deflected off Vegas defenseman Nick Holden's skate.
Martinez tied it 1-1 at 18:05.
Vegas took a 2-1 lead at 6:45 of the second period when Paul Stastny deflected Reilly Smith's shot for his 250th NHL goal.
Stamkos tied it 2-2 at 15:38 on the power play with a one-timer from the left circle.

They said it

"We're going to bounce back as a team. We had a great stretch. We played so much great hockey. All anyone is going to talk about is that we lost this game, but we've put a great stretch of hockey together. We'll refocus, work on some things and play better next game." -- Lightning forward Steven Stamkos
"It's pretty incredible to be able to play with a hockey club of this caliber. I kept saying on the bench 'This is a fun group to play with.' It's a little different when you're on the same side, you kind of take notice at certain things that maybe you wouldn't when you're, obviously, on the other end of things." -- Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez

Need to know

Tampa Bay center Brayden Point (illness) did not play. … Stamkos has 20 points (12 goals, eight assists) in his past 13 games. … Forward Blake Coleman had two shots and four hits in 15:17 in his Lightning debut. He was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Sunday for a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and forward prospect Nolan Foote. … Vegas forward Tomas Nosek left at 13:25 of the third period after taking a puck to the face. There was no update.

What's next

Lightning: At the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, SUN, NHL.TV)
Golden Knights: Host the Florida Panthers on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-F, NHL.TV)