LAS VEGAS — The NHL’s best third-period team this season suddenly can’t hold a lead.
Vegas paid for it in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at Carolina and barely escaped after an even more improbable Hurricanes comeback in Game 3.
The Golden Knights’ 5-4 double-overtime victory in Game 3 put them two wins from their second Stanley Cup in four years.
To get there, they will not only need to get ahead, but stay there, beginning with Game 4 in Las Vegas.
That generally hasn’t been a problem for the Golden Knights, whose plus-47 goal differential in the regular season was the league’s best. They also were adept and closing out games in the playoffs, posting an NHL-leading plus-10 differential before Game 2.
Then came a lost 2-0 lead that night and 4-0 advantage that was erased in Game 3. Both leads held well into the third period.
An anomaly for the Golden Knights or something more concerning?
“It’s playoff hockey,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “A lot of stuff happens. I’m not concerned about it.”
In both games, the Golden Knights appeared to be in full control as the minutes in the third period were ticking down.
Their defense in Game 2 kept the Hurricanes from mounting much of a threat until Carolina finally broke through with three goals. The Golden Knights seemed even more in control in Game 3, with Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour appearing to concede by changing goalies after the second period.
The Golden Knights very well could be up 3-0 and going for the sweep, but the feeling is similar on the other side. Carolina blew its own lead in the opener, scoring two quick goals in the first period only to let Vegas rally.
“We’re one shot away from being 3-0 in two games,” Brind’Amour said. “So I think there’s a ton of positives. They’re a good team. They’ve got good players. We could’ve won this game.”
Teams with 2-1 series leads in the Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win 80.7% of the time. But if the Hurricanes win Game 4, suddenly it’s a best-of-three with potentially two of those games at Carolina, including what would be a winner-take-all Game 7.
The Hurricanes can look at how Game 3 ended and wonder how differently the series might be playing out. Shea Theodore shot the puck off the boards and got a perfect bounce as the puck deflected off the back of goalie Brandon Bussi’s skate and went into the net. It was Carolina’s second own-goal of the game.
The Golden Knights also could argue that game never should have come down to such a shot.
With the game scoreless in the second period, the Golden Knights had two goals wiped out by Carolina challenges, the first for offside and the second for goalie interference. The Hurricanes’ tying goal came on a mad scramble in front of Carter Hart’s net, and Tortorella opted not to challenge for goaltender interference.
He said the officials got all three calls correct, but was still fuming about his failed challenge for goaltender interference in a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 2.
“The one the other night was wrong,” Tortorella said. “I don’t care what any of you guys (media) said. It was wrong. The puck was there and it was poked. I don’t know what all this crap and this rule, you can’t overrule the official, some of the stuff you guys talk about, it’s ridiculous. I just wish we had the rule that if the puck wasn’t tied up and it went in the net, it’s a good goal.”
In addition to the video reviews that went the other way, the Golden Knights had chances to build on their four-goal lead.
Mitch Marner, whose hat trick in the second period was the fastest in Cup Final history at 6:10, was turned away early in the third period on a breakaway and soon after on a penalty shot.
“Even when Mitch had the penalty shot, I’m thinking, we need to score that one,” Tortorella said. “I’m not lying to you because they came back and scored four. I’m thinking, we need another one just to keep on going.”
The Golden Knights found a way to survive, and now they hope after Game 4 they will be just one win from taking it all.
“I think at the end of the day we’re a resilient group,” Theodore said. “We’ve had I don’t know how many comebacks in the regular season and just grinding to get to this point. We stay calm. We stay collected. Obviously, in the third period, we have to take a better hold of that, but I like the way we reset in overtime and especially the second overtime.”
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