Golden Knights fail to clinch, lose to Avalanche in shootout

DENVER-- The Vegas Golden Knights failed to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout at Pepsi Center on Saturday.

Gabriel Landeskog scored in the third round of the tiebreaker for the Avalanche, who moved into the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Anaheim Ducks.

"He just shot low blocker and scored," Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It was fun. The atmosphere was good. It was such a close game. It was exciting, exciting to be part of, but disappointing to come out on the losing side."
WATCH: [All Golden Knights vs. Avalanche highlights]
Carl Soderberg scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 39 saves for the Avalanche (41-26-8).
Jonathan Marchessault scored, and Fleury made 29 saves for the Golden Knights (47-21-7), who could clinch a berth Saturday if the St. Louis Blues lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets in regulation and the Los Angeles Kings lose to the Edmonton Oilers in regulation.
Vegas is in first place in the Pacific Division, six points ahead of the second-place San Jose Sharks.
"I don't know if it was a playoff preview, but it was a good game," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "The first half, they were dominating us. The second half, I think we took over, especially in the third."
The teams play each other again Monday at Vegas.
Varlamov played in his 20th consecutive game (18 starts) after allowing five goals on 20 shots Thursday in a 7-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
"I feel pretty good. What can I say?" Varlamov said. "I'm going to feel even better if we make the playoffs. That's why we're here, we want to make the playoffs. That's why we're battling every game.
"Fleury played an outstanding game. We had moments when I thought the puck would go in, but somehow he stopped the shots, he'd make that big save. That's why he's different than anybody else. In a key moment he can make that save. That was a fun game to play against him, a great goaltender."

It was Fleury's first game since he sustained an undisclosed injury Tuesday in a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks.
"l felt good, I was back to normal," he said. "It felt good to be back with the boys again."
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Soderberg at 13:52 of the first period. Alex Kerfoot passed to J.T. Compher, who fed Soderberg below the left face-off circle for a shot under the crossbar. It was his 16th goal, matching his NHL career high set with the Boston Bruins in 2013-14.

The Golden Knights tied the game at 1-1 on Marchessault's 24th goal of the season at 1:15 of the third period. He skated down right wing and scored to the glove side.
Fleury stopped Landeskog's point-blank shot with his right pad 21 seconds into the third, and Blake Comeau fell on a breakaway at 5:15 with Fleury out of his net after a failed poke check.
"Fleury made some nice saves, so it was nice to get one back in the shootout," Landeskog said. "It was a fun game. We know they've had a lot of success this year. They're a deep team with four lines working extremely hard. Some of their guys are having career seasons and some guys are stepping up at other times, and obviously they've got Fleury in the net."

Goal of the game

Marchessault's goal at 1:15 of the third period.

Save of the game

Varlamov's save against James Neal at 8:30 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Fleury's save against Landeskog 21 seconds into the third period.

They said it

"It was a good hockey game. That was a fun hockey game. I thought both teams played really well. Back and forth, a little bit of everything. Goalies were really good. It was hard to create chances, but the game had really good pace to it." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar
"It was so much fun to play. The fans were outstanding, they were screaming, it was so loud. I felt there was lots of pressure in the third period when they tied the game. It's fun to play in those games. I'm feeling good and the team is playing very well in front of me." -- Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov
"Great atmosphere. Fans were into it, so you could definitely feel it
on the ice. Could be a first-round matchup. Playing playoff-type hockey right now, so it was a good game." -- Golden Knights forward James Neal

Need to know

Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon's point streak ended at 14 games (27 points; 13 goals, 14 assists). ... Colorado is 2-1 in shootouts, Vegas is 3-3. ... The Avalanche recalled goalie Spencer Martin from San Antonio of the American Hockey League because Jonathan Bernier has an infected cut on his upper body.

What's next

Golden Knights: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, ATTSN-RM, ALT, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, ATTSN-RM, ALT, NHL.TV)