Fleury, Golden Knights look ahead to Game 4 after tough loss to Canadiens
Trail Semifinals after misplay by goalie in overtime defeat
© Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
The Vegas Golden Knights goalie said he needed to see the replay again, but late in the third period of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals on Friday, he went behind the net to play the puck and help his defensemen like he does every game. He didn't know if the puck spun off his stick or foot or what.
Bottom line: The puck ended up on the stick of Josh Anderson, who tied the game with 1:55 left and scored again in overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win and the lead in the best-of-7 series.
"I didn't have good control of it and lost the puck, and when I turned around, it was in the net already," Fleury said Saturday.
Game 4 is at Bell Centre in Montreal on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS). Robin Lehner could start instead of Fleury after he was in the starter's crease and was the first goalie to leave the ice at Vegas' morning skate.
"I've been through this before," said Fleury, who is third in all-time regular-season wins (492) and fourth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (90). "Obviously, I wish things were different, but it is what it is. Got to put it behind [us] and get ready for the next game."
Vegas has been behind in each series in the playoffs.
The Golden Knights lost Game 1 to the Minnesota Wild in the Stanley Cup First Round and won the series in seven games.
They lost the first two games to the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, and at that point, the Avalanche had won 11 straight games dating to the regular season. Vegas won that series in six.
Now the Golden Knights trail the Canadiens, who have won eight of their past nine.
Coach Peter DeBoer referenced the experience of players like Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, 2016 and 2017; defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who won the Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019; and defenseman Alec Martinez, who won it with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.
"There's a ton of experience in that room to speak about where we're at," DeBoer said. "They've all been there. At some point on all those playoff trails, there's adversity, and we've already dealt with our adversity and different points and responded. So, there's no panic in our group."
DeBoer disagreed with the suggestion the Golden Knights were making things difficult on themselves.
"I don't know how difficult on ourselves we're making it," DeBoer said. "I don't know who out there feels that we should be winning these series quicker or easier. This is hard. It's hard. The bottom line is you just want to keep advancing."
The Golden Knights have two goals from forwards and none from their top six in the series. They're 0-for-10 on the power play against the Canadiens and 4-for-38 in the playoffs. Mattias Janmark suggested they lacked confidence and were thinking too much on the power play.
DeBoer referenced offensive struggles in the playoffs of top players on other teams: Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid and Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner.
"I liked our game," DeBoer said. "I like the looks we're getting. Yes, we've got to stick some more pucks in the net. But it's not easy, and if it was easy, everyone would do it. It's that time of year. You've just got to keep showing up and putting pucks on net and putting yourself in positions to score and eventually you'll get some."
The Golden Knights outshot the Canadiens 30-8 through two periods of Game 3 but the score was tied 1-1. They were outshooting the Canadiens 39-17 at the time of Fleury's mistake but had a one-goal lead.
On one hand, it recalled last year, when the Golden Knights outshot the Dallas Stars 142-119 in the Western Conference Final but lost the series in six games.
"That game should have been put away probably before the end there if we score a bit more goals," said Janmark, a forward who played for the Stars last season. "I guess that was a problem last year for this team."
On the other, it was an improvement from the first two games in this series. The Golden Knights started slowly in each, winning Game 1 4-1 and losing Game 2 3-2.
"They play well defensively," Fleury said of the Canadiens. "They control the middle of the ice a lot, especially in [the defensive] zone. They make it hard to get in the zone when we cross the red line. But I thought with our speed and our skill, I thought we still were able to generate some chances and zone time. …
"The first couple games in Vegas, I thought the first periods, they were good. They were fast and going. But once we got to our game, I think we can handle them no problem."
