VGK@MTL: Game 4 Recap

MONTREAL - The Canadiens were edged 2-1 in overtime by the Golden Knights on Sunday night at the Bell Centre.

SHOP: CHic Playoff Line
The series is tied 2-2.
The big story entering the contest was Golden Knights' head coach Peter DeBoer's decision to start backup Robin Lehner in place of Marc-André Fleury.
Fleury made a costly mistake late in the third period of Game 3, mishandling the puck behind the net, which led to the game-tying goal by forward Josh Anderson.

It was Lehner's second start of the playoffs, and his first appearance since May 30 against the Colorado Avalanche when he surrendered seven goals on 37 shots in a 7-1 defeat.
During the pregame warmup, centreman Jesperi Kotkaniemi was clearly ready to rock.
The 20-year-old Finn was looking to extend his point streak to three consecutive games.

As expected, the Canadiens didn't feature any lineup changes.
With interim head coach Dominique Ducharme out with COVID-19, assistant coach Luke Richardson ran the bench for a second straight game alongside Alex Burrows and Sean Burke.

There were no goals to report in the first period.
The Canadiens were outshooting the Golden Knights by an 11-4 margin at the break.
Montreal finally opened the scoring with 65 seconds left in the middle frame.
Nick Suzuki hit a streaking Paul Byron with a perfect breakaway feed up the middle, and Byron beat Lehner with a shot upstairs.

It was the 32-year-old Ottawa native's third goal of the playoffs, and his second snipe in the last three games.
Byron also extended his point streak to three games on the sequence.
And his family was thrilled.

With the assist, Suzuki recorded his 10th point of the playoffs and became the second player on the roster to reach double digits in that department, joining Tyler Toffoli.
That's the way things stood after 40 minutes.
Montreal was outshooting Vegas by a 20-12 margin heading into the final stanza.
The Golden Knights tied things up 1-1 at the 10:37 mark of the third period.
Defenseman Brayden McNabb took a pass from centreman William Karlsson and snuck a shot past goaltender Carey Price for his first goal of the playoffs.

Defenseman Shea Theodore assisted on the equalizer as well.
Overtime was required to decide a winner.
The Canadiens were leading 28-18 in shots after 60 minutes.
Nicolas Roy secured the victory for Vegas with the OT winner at the 1:18 mark of the frame.

It was his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Forwards Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch collected the assists on the play.
Price finished the game with 19 saves.
Game 5 of the series will be played on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET.