The NHL's last game prior to the season's break didn't disappoint.
The Tampa Bay Lightning reigned supreme in Tuesday night's 4-3 slugfest against the Vegas Golden Knights, a battle that featured the No. 1 teams in the Atlantic and Pacific Divisions.
The Golden Knights entered the contest on a five-game win streak.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos potted Tampa Bay's third unanswered goal to secure the victory and passed Martin St. Louis as Tampa Bay's all-time game-winning goal leader in the process, according to team beat writer Bryan Burns.
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone scored twice in his return to the lineup before exiting midway through the second period. He saw just 7:46 of ice time. The 29-year-old winger was a late scratch in Sunday's shootout victory against the New York Islanders.
Both teams were dealing with substantial absences. Defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Nicolas Hague, forward Evgenii Dadonov, and goaltender Robin Lehner were all sidelined on the Golden Knights' end.
The Bolts, meanwhile, were without head coach Jon Cooper.
Lightning rookie Gabriel Fortier drew first blood with his first-ever NHL goal in his eighth career game, beating Vegas netminder Laurent Brossoit on his blocker side. Stone responded just three minutes later by redirecting the puck home.
Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy scored a beauty to give Vegas a two-goal lead before the Lightning struck twice in 43 seconds at the end of the second period.
Tampa Bay never looked back after Stamkos buried the game-winner on a power play in the final frame. Star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made several key saves in the last minute.
Stone got clipped in the first period by Lightning forward Mathieu Joseph and had to crawl to the bench. He initially stayed in the game and scored his first goal of the contest shortly after.
Vegas head coach Pete DeBoer said postgame the team pulled Stone from the game because of the issue that held him out of Sunday's matchup, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger.
DeBoer added that he didn't think it would be worth it to leave Stone in the contest due to the upcoming break.
The Lightning improved to 20-6-4 on the season, while the Golden Knights fell to 20-12-0.
Tampa Bay's 44 points leads the NHL heading into the pause.
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