TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Nicholas Paul scored the winning goal with 1:13 left in the third period and added two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the injury-impacted and league-best Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 on Thursday night.

Paul put home a rebound for his second straight three-point game.

Tampa Bay right wing and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, and Alex Barré-Boulet also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 30 shots.

Jiri Patera, playing in his third game this season and fifth overall, made 31 saves filling in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).

The defending Stanley Cup champions, coming off a 6-3 loss at Carolina on Tuesday, got two goals from Jonathan Marchessault. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter had the other goals, while Jack Eichel extended his franchise-record point streak to 12 games with two assists.

Eichel had a great scoring chance stopped by Vasilevskiy with three seconds left.

Marchessault got Vegas within 4-3 with an early third-period power-play goal after Kucherov received an unsportsmanlike penalty. Kucherov thought a penalty should have been called on his breakaway and was sent off after yelling at a referee.

Cotter tied it four-minutes later.

The Lightning went up 4-2 after scoring three times in a 2:55 stretch late in the second. Kucherov had a 5-on-3 goal and assisted on Point's power-play goal 33 seconds later. Kucherov set up another Point goal to end the surge.

Marchessault and Barbashev had first-period goals.

Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who took a shot off the back of his left foot Tuesday, didn’t play. Lightning coach Jon Cooper is hopeful that Sergachev will only miss a game or two.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Continue a road trip Saturday night at Florida.

Lightning: Play at Washington on Saturday night.

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