Lightning score 4 in 3rd, surge past Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel each scored twice and had an assist in the third period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-3 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Dominic James had a goal and two assists for his first three NHL points for Tampa Bay (7-5-2), which scored four times in the third period for its sixth win in seven games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.

“Massive [comeback],” Hagel said. “Early on [in the year], our heads would have been down, and everyone would have been looking left to right to find a guy to maybe step up. Tonight we kind of just kept pushing.”

Ivan Barbashev had two goals and an assist, and Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists for Vegas (7-3-3), which as lost two of three. Carl Lindbom made 21 saves.

“There's going to be ups and downs throughout the season. That's how the season goes,” Marner said. “You can get so high and feel so good, and it can come down quickly on you. It's a roller-coaster ride throughout the season. The thing that this team does really well is just stay right even-keeled. Don't get too excited, don't get too low on yourself. We know we're a great team in here. Just got to trust what we're doing and the results will come.”

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the game, 3-2, at 2:48 of the third period, finishing a cross-ice feed from Oliver Bjorkstrand just as a power play expired.

Marner tied it 3-3 at 3:37 when his shot from below the blue line deflected in off Victor Hedman’s stick.

Tampa Bay reclaimed the lead at 4-3 when Hagel chipped in a loose puck from the top of the crease at 4:12.

Kucherov extended the lead to 5-3 at 14:13 on the power play with a one-timer from the right circle. Hagel added an empty-net goal at 19:13 for the 6-3 final.

Barbashev opened the scoring at 7:25 of the first period, recovering a Noah Hanifin rebound and putting it into the net to make it 1-0.

He added his second goal of the game to make it 2-0 at 15:53 after a tic-tac-toe play from Marner and Jack Eichel.

The forward scored Vegas’ only goal in a 1-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

“He's around the net,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He was near the front of the net, tracked down a rebound, another backhand. So, you're scoring on backhands, it means you're around the right place, because those aren't usually going to beat a goalie when he's set. The other one was driving the middle, right? It was a good play.”

Tampa Bay was outshot 15-3 in the first period.

“I wouldn't say there were strong words (after the first period),” Hagel said. “It's just pretty simple. The guys in the dressing room could tell what was going on out there. I don't think there was anything that needed to really be said when you come to the dressing room. I think a period like that, kind of a little bit of onus on you as players, not like, what is the coach going to say? Yell at you, you have 40 minutes left to go. It's accountability by the players. That was as worse as it could get, so it could only get better, and the guys answered.”

Gage Goncalves cut it to 2-1 with a wrist shot from the low slot following a Hanifin turnover below the goal line 36 seconds into the second period.

“They got the puck in Vegas's end,” Tampa Bay assistant coach Rob Zettler said. “They forecheck, they get on top, they make it hard. Not that they're super physical or anything, but they're just in the way all the time. Great effort by that whole line.”

James tied the game 2-2 at 3:28 with a wrist shot into a wide-open net after Lindblom lost an edge trying to recover following a J.J. Moser shot.

“I honestly don't really remember too much,” said James, who was playing in his eighth NHL game. “I remember seeing the puck go in. I remember seeing it bounce over [Goncalves’s] stick, and that eventually led to it coming to me. So, kind of happy it bounced over ‘Gonzo's’ stick. That's kind of what I remember.”

NOTES: Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli left the game after the second period with an upper-body injury. There was no update postgame. … Kucherov had three or more points in a period for the 27th time in the NHL, passing Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second-most by an active player. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has 28.