TAMPA — The Lightning had some tremendous scoring looks Thursday against the Golden Knights. But combine a night full of attempts that went awry and a staunch Vegas team determined to get in the way of the puck, and it could have been one of those head-shaking nights for Tampa Bay.

But the Lightning didn’t fall into the trap of frustration. They kept letting shots rip and were rewarded with two goals in the final 2:22, giving them a 4-3, come-from-behind victory.

Brandon Hagel roofed the tying goal, and Nikita Kucherov flung a tight-angle shot that hit off Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague’s skate and went under goaltender Adin Hill’s pads and into the net for the winner with 55 seconds remaining.

“I definitely felt we would have been disappointed with this game without getting a point, and it’s a bonus that we got two, but we did deserve some points,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “… I thought our team deserved to come back. To get two, that’s playing with house money there. That was nice for us.”

With the win, the Lightning opened the season 3-0-0 before departing for a three-game, four-day road trip that opens Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

“To battle these points out, it’s incredible to watch,” Hagel said. “And there’s a lot of heart and will in the dressing room, and that’s what we thought from the beginning.”

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Sticking with it

After Vegas went ahead 3-2 on Ivan Barbashev’s goal 1:59 into the second period, the Golden Knights went into protect mode. Hill made several key saves, and a corps of what Cooper called “tree-trunk” defensemen blocked a bunch of shots.

The Lightning couldn’t capitalize on a 70-second 5-on-3 power play at the end of the period, but the message in the dressing room was clear: Stick with it, and keep shooting.

Tampa Bay’s top line set the tone, and even after Brayden Point roofed a shot that would have tied the game harmlessly off the crossbar, the Lightning kept pushing.

“They caught a buzz for our entire team in the dressing room,” Hagel said of Point, Jake Guentzel and Kucherov. “They went out there, played the game hard, played the right way and we just followed along, and that was kind of our game plan going to the third.

”Pucks behind him, manage the puck, and I think we did pretty good at that.”

Hagel, whose first four attempts didn’t reach the net, took a pass from Mitchell Chaffee and drifted toward the top of the right circle before rifling a wrister top shelf past Hill for the tying goal with 2:22 remaining.

Then in the final minute, Kucherov followed his own rebound into the left corner and flung another shot toward the net. Point and Guentzel both went toward the net front, but Kucherov’s shot hit Hague’s right skate and went in for the game-winner and his sixth goal of the season.

The Point line was relentless in its offensive pressure, totaling 29 shot attempts, which made up half of the Lightning’s 58 5-on-5 attempts.

“When one line’s going out there and getting tons of chances, we know it’s out there and we just trusted that, playing our game, we don’t need to try to make one more play,” Hagel said. “I think it was, ‘Just stick with it and hopefully it comes,’ and it did.”

Moser composure

Defenseman J.J. Moser had his best game with the Lightning, tying the game at 1 midway through the first period with his first goal and assisting on Tampa Bay’s final two scores.

Moser chased down a loose puck when Cam Atkinson’s pass through the neutral zone hit off the boards and crossed the blue line. Moser beat Vegas forward Brett Howden to the bouncing puck above the left circle, pushed it forward and then hit a wobbler from the hash past Hill.

“It’s just our system that the D jump and join the rush,” Moser said. “And I saw that (Atkinson) just ripped it wide. So I thought that I would continue (on the rush).”

Moser could have had a third assist had Point’s third-period breakaway not clanked off the crossbar.

“He’s all over the score sheet in a positive way, and he deserved it,” Cooper said. “I thought he had an outstanding game here (Thursday), definitely his best as a Bolt.”

Vasilevskiy clutch again

After holding opponents to one goal in each of his first two starts, Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals Thursday. But he made two huge saves that prevented Vegas from taking a two-goal lead.

With the Lightning trailing 1-0 midway through the first period, Vasilevskiy stoned Alexander Holtz on a 2-on-1, a stop that preceded Moser’s tying goal. Then, with Tampa Bay down 3-2 in the third, Vasilevskiy stopped Barbashev on a breakaway.

Still, it was an easier night for Vasilevskiy, who stopped Vegas’ final 14 shots on goal, than he faced in the first two games, when turnovers led to more high–danger scoring chances for the opposition.

“The big difference between (Thursday) and I think our previous two games is we really managed the puck,” Cooper said. “We weren’t giving up those rushes by volume. Vasy made two great breakaway saves, so let’s not forget that, because that could be the difference in the game. But those were few and far between.

“When you manage the puck, and you kind of dictate the play because you’re managing the puck, good things happen. It just took us until the 58th minute for it to happen.”

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