AP Photo/David Zalubowski
The Vegas Golden Knights evened their Stanley Cup semifinals series with the Montreal Canadiens at two games apiece following a 2-1 overtime win on Sunday at Bell Centre in Montreal.
Nicolas Roy waited until just 1:18 into the extra frame to give Vegas the victory.
The teams played to a stalemate in the first period before Paul Byron broke the deadlock with 1:05 left in the second period.
Brayden McNabb leveled things up at the 10:37 mark of the third period.
With the result, the Golden Knights once again have home-ice advantage as the series heads back to Nevada.
Notable Performers
Robin Lehner, G, Golden Knights: 27 saves, .964 save percentage
Nicolas Roy, C, Golden Knights: one goal, two shots, three hits
Paul Byron, RW, Canadiens: one goal, one shot, one blocked shot, one hit
Lehner Answers the Call
Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer opted to make a change between the pipes, swapping Marc-Andre Fleury out for Robin Lehner.
Fleury made an incomprehensible gaffe in Game 3 to hand Josh Anderson a goal inside the final two minutes of regulation. Still, the move was a bit of a surprise since Lehner surrendered seven goals during his only appearance of the postseason.
DeBoer must’ve known something nobody else did because Lehner was excellent for Vegas.
The 29-year-old made a sprawling pad save on Eric Staal in the first period.
He also stonewalled Cole Caufield in the third period to keep it a one-goal game.
Equally surprising was the collective performance of the Golden Knights’ forward lines. This continued a trend that spanned the previous two games, with Alex Pietrangelo accounting for three of the team’s last four goals.
Vegas had four shots in the first period, and things didn’t get much better from there for a large chunk of the game.
Roy’s winner will ease those concerns for the time being.
Timely Breakaway, Stifling Defense Nearly the Winning Recipe for Habs
Nick Suzuki was credited with an assist for Byron’s goal, but Shea Weber’s involvement in the tally shouldn’t go unnoticed. Weber’s block on Jonathan Marchessault helped spark the Canadiens’ quick breakaway.
That summed up a night when Montreal’s defense was winning the day until McNabb turned the tide.
Heading into the third period, it looked like the Habs were on solid footing.
Lehner’s save on Caufield took on an added importance after Price surrendered the equalizer. The Canadiens are left to rue their missed opportunities after finishing with a 28-21 edge in shots.
Perhaps the Habs rebound with a victory in Game 5, nullifying any potential hangover from this defeat.
But they didn’t want to hand a win over to a Golden Knights team that was clearly not at its best.
What’s Next?
The puck drops Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET for Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
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