3 takeaways from Knights’ OT loss: Goaltender shines in NHL debut

Carl Lindbom did all he could to will the Golden Knights past the finish line. His teammates couldn’t get it done.

Lindbom shined in his NHL debut and got the Knights a point, but the offense couldn’t produce for the second time in 24 hours in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday.

A seventh-round pick by the Knights in 2021, Lindbom made 26 saves in his first NHL start. The Stockholm, Sweden, native was recalled from the Silver Knights on Wednesday with No. 1 goalie Adin Hill suffering a lower-body injury that has him out week to week.

Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov scored 32 seconds into the extra frame to end any heroics from Lindbom. Defenseman Shea Theodore gave it away in the offensive zone to spring a two-on-one.

Kucherov, the back-to-back Art Ross Trophy winner as the league’s leading scorer, scored his eighth career overtime winner.

“(Lindbom) gave us every chance to win,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Feel bad for him. Could’ve gotten him a win. That’s hockey some nights.”

Center William Karlsson’s goal at 18:25 of the first period was the first goal for the Knights (5-1-3) on this three-game road trip.

They lost 3-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday.

”The forecheck was kind of nonexistent,” Karlsson said. “We have to be in better spots. We have to make it tougher for them to break the puck out.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Lindbom spectacular

With his parents and girlfriend watching in the stands, Lindbom showed why the organization has been high on him.

He was tasked with containing a prolific offense. The Lightning (3.47 goals per game) have the second-best offense in the NHL since the 2022-23 season.

Lindbom faced 13 shots in the first period. The only one that got by him was left wing Brandon Hagel’s follow-up at 4:53 of the first to open the scoring.

He stopped all 11 he saw in the second period.

“He was awesome,” defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said. “He was unreal.”

Lindbom took over the starter’s crease in Henderson last season in his first year playing on the shorter North American ice. He was the Silver Knights’ best player, going 18-15-2 with a .912 save percentage and three shutouts.

He was more than up to the task and it didn’t go unnoticed. Lindbom got a fist bump from Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at the end of the second period.

“He was there for us,” Cassidy said. “He should feel good about his game.”

2. Crucial challenge

Lindbom wasn’t the only one to ensure the Knights left Tampa with a point. Video coach Dave Rogowski came through once again.

Kucherov gave the Lightning the lead with 6:22 remaining, but Cassidy was buzzed by Rogowski to challenge for offsides.

Kucherov didn’t have possession of the puck as he crossed the blue line, and the goal came off the board.

“I trust Rogie on those,” Cassidy said. “It’s not black and white with offsides anymore. He was confident so that made me confident.”

It’s not the first time Rogowski has been clutch in video reviews. He called for an offsides challenge in Game 5 of the first round against the Minnesota Wild last season that took a potential winning goal by center Ryan Hartman off the board.

The Knights wound up winning in overtime.

“It’s better than zero (points),” Karlsson said. “We’ll take a positive and move on.”

3. Offensive dry spell

It’s not just the goals that haven’t been there this trip. The Knights aren’t even getting shots on net. They’ve had 36 combined the last two games.

The Knights couldn’t get into a rhythm Sunday. They spent large parts of the first two periods shorthanded. To their credit, the penalty kill went 5-for-5 against Tamps Bay’s strong power play.

They started breaking pucks out better afterwards, Cassidy said, but couldn’t get through the neutral zone.

“It was a domino effect,” Cassidy said.

The Knights’ power play has also gone cold, going 0-for-3 Sunday and 0-for-9 the last three games. They’ve gone from having the league’s best unit at 32.9 percent to dropping to ninth (27.3).

The southeastern road trip ends Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, whom the Knights beat 4-1 on Monday. Carolina won the previous four meetings by a combined score of 17-9.

“We get a win, we go home .500,” Cassidy said. “It’s a tough trip.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.