LAS VEGAS -- Tampa Bay came into Tuesday night's game with Vegas owning the NHL's top power play, scoring at a 27.4 percent clip. But it was the Golden Knights who made better use of playing with the extra man at T-Mobile Arena in a dramatic 4-3 victory.
Vegas (22-9-2) became just the third team this season to score four power-play goals in a game, the final one coming on defenseman Shea Theodore's game-winning blast with 2.3 seconds remaining, and the Golden Knights snapped the Lightning's seven-game win streak.
It was just the second goal of the season for Theodore, who began the season with Chicago of the AHL and also had three assists. It came off a cross-ice pass from Jonathan Marchessault from the right point just 21 seconds after Tampa Bay defenseman Brandon Coburn went to the penalty box for grabbing the stick of Vegas forward James Neal.
"Things were clicking, our power-play finally got going, and it was a good night for everyone," Theodore said. "The puck came up and across and I was just trying to shoot it as hard as I can anywhere I could.
"It was good for it to go in. Definitely a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure how much time was left. I knew it was ticking down. To have two seconds left and win, that was big."
Vegas joined Boston (vs. Vancouver, Oct. 19) and Detroit (vs. Colorado, Nov. 15) as the only teams in the NHL this season to have four power-play goals in a game.
Neal, Marchessault and Erik Haula also scored goals and David Perron added three assists for Vegas, which won for the seventh time in eight games and moved into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings (21-10-4).
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in net.
Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored goals and NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov added two assists for Tampa Bay (24-7-2). Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy had 32 saves.
Stamkos, who came into the game leading the NHL in power-play scoring with eight goals and 20 points, wasted no time padding that total when he rifled in a one-timer from the left circle just 7:43 into the game. Namestnikov made it 2-0 with just 47 seconds left in the first period when he took a pass on the edge of the crease and quickly turned and flipped in a shot over Fleury.
But Vegas came back in the second period to tie it at 2 with two power-play goals of its own.
Neal started the comeback when he took a pass from Perron on the right side of the net and fired in his 17th goal of the season. Marchessault then tied it with his 12th goal of the season.
"I think the real key was when we scored that first goal to make it 2-1," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "Our fans were so loud, and they just got behind our team and they wouldn't let us fall apart. When it's 2-0 and they get the next goal, it could be a completely different hockey game. It could a 5-0, 6-0 hockey game. We got that first goal and our crowd got so noisy and got behind our players and we fed off that."
The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead early in the third period when Haula deflected Theodore's shot from the blue line, but Hedman tied it with his fourth goal of the season when his shot from the left point got past Fleury, who appeared to be screened on the play, setting the stage for Theodore's dramatic game-winner.
"That's a crappy way to lose a hockey game," Stamkos, upset with the holding the stick penalty on Coburn, said. "We fight back to tie the game. ... That's an iffy call."
Hedman, meanwhile, said the Lightning have only themselves to blame because of their poor penalty killing. Vegas finished 4-of-5 on the power play.
"We've got to find a way to kill off those penalties," Hedman said. "You can't give up four on the PK and expect to win a hockey game. That one stings."
NOTES: Vegas improved 14-2-1 at T-Mobile Arena, the most home wins for any team in the Western Conference ... Tampa Bay D Jake Dotchin and C Tyler Johnson were both scratched with the flu. RW Ryan Callahan also missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury suffered Dec. 14 at Arizona that is expected to keep him sidelined 3-4 weeks. ... Vegas scratched LW Tomas Hyka, D Brad Hunt and C Ryan Carpenter. ... F Nikita Kucherov's assist on Steven Stamkos' opening power-play goal was the 150th of his career. ... F Jonathan Marchessault's goal was the 50th of his career and also his 100th career point. ... Tampa Bay returns home to open a four-game homestand on Thursday against Ottawa. Vegas concludes a five-game homestand on Saturday against Washington.
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