.png)
Following a “you’ve got to be kidding me” moment from Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the Montreal Canadiens took game three and subsequently, the series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights with a 3-2 OT win.
Fleury completely lost track of the puck as it crept behind his net leaving Montreal’s Josh Anderson a wide open shot to tie the game.
The play all but killed Vegas.
“Those types of events are tough to recover from,” Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer told ESPN. “We talked between the third and the overtime about trying to get our mojo back.”
Vegas must respond in game four to avoid the dreaded 3-1 deficit. Game four will remain in Montreal on Sunday, June 20.
Anderson would strike again in OT to complete the rude welcoming to Montreal for the Knights.
Up until Fleury’s late mistake, he played well stopping all but one shot until Anderson’s two goals.
However, Fleury was not the best goaltender on the ice for the first time in the postseason.
Montreal’s Carey Price gave the Knights fits all night long and proved to be the difference.
Price stopped 43-of-45 shots and dismantled any offensive continuity the Knights had going for them.
The two shots he let past him belonged to center Nic Roy and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo.
It was Roy’s third goal of the postseason while Pietrangelo scored goal No. 4 of these playoffs.
It was a wasted opportunity for the Knights as Montreal was without its head coach.
Assistant coach Luke Richardson stepped in for Dominique Ducharme, who tested positive for COVID-19 hours before the game.
“I would have thought my first chance running an NHL bench would be an exhibition game,” Richardson said. “But it happened to be in the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in overtime, so it’s pretty exciting.”