Kucherov scores twice in third period as Lightning beat Golden Knights 6-3

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of third-period goals and added an assist on a late empty-netter as the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled away for a 6-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.

Brandon Hagel also had two goals and an assist for the Lightning, while Gage Goncalves and Dominic James added goals. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves. James and Oliver Bjorkstrand also had a pair of assists each.

Ivan Barbashev had two goals and an assist for Vegas while Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists. Carl Lindbom stopped 21 shots for the Golden Knights.

The game was tied 2-2 after two periods but Kucherov scored his first 2:48 into the third to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead.

Marner tied it at 3-all less than a minute later but Hagel's goal 35 seconds after that gave Tampa Bay the lead for good. Kucherov got his second on the power play with 5:47 to play to make it 5-3 and Hagel scored into an empty net with less than a minute to play.

Barbashev scored two goals in the first to give Vegas a 2-0 lead after one, but Goncalves and James scored in the second to make 2-2 after two.

The Golden Knights went scoreless on the power play in three chances.

Lightning: Home against Washington on Saturday night.

Golden Knights: Home against Anaheim on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL