The Vegas Golden Knights rallied together for a historic three-goal comeback over the Avalanche, winning Game 3 5-3.
Both sides received reinforcements tonight, with Cale Makar and Mark Stone each playing their first game of the series.
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Gabriel Landeskog buried a rebound off an impressive net-front drive by Devon Toews to give Colorado a lead three and a half minutes in.
The defense continued to step up offensively for the Avalanche, as Josh Manson sent a stretch pass to Martin Nečas, who found Nazem Kadri out front to make it 2-0.
The primary assist was Nečas’ first point of the series, and he will need to step up if Colorado wants to tie this series.
The Golden Knights earned a power play shortly after a failed man advantage for the Avalanche, where Pavel Dorofeyev appeared to make it a one-goal game.
To the chagrin of the home crowd, it was determined that Dorofeyev’s glove was used on the play, and the goal was called off.
A mere 41 seconds later, Jack Drury silenced T-Mobile Arena with a shorthanded tally on the breakaway.
It was a controversial end to the period, but undoubtedly the best hockey the Avalanche have played in the series. A lot of that had to do with the return of Makar, who led all skaters with 54 seconds of puck possession time in the first.
Vegas came flying out of the gates in the second, with Stone recording his fourth of the playoffs off a Mitch Marner slap-pass.
The goal brought the home crowd back to life, and the Knights seemed to have an extra step in their game in the ensuing shifts.
Marner continued his Conn Smythe Trophy-worthy run, assisting on William Karlsson‘s first goal of the playoffs to make it a one-goal lead.
The Avalanche looked out of order in the second, losing coverage in the defensive zone and consistently failing simple zone exits.
After minutes of extended zone time, Keegan Kolesar erased what was originally a three-goal lead with his first goal in 37 playoff games.
After being the best team in the league at protecting leads all season long, the Avalanche have seemingly been rattled by the Knights’ comeback in the last game.
As if things couldn’t get worse for the Avalanche, Hart Memorial Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon left the game in the second after taking a shot to the knee.
MacKinnon would go on to return early in the third period, but looked uncomfortable skating with the puck.
Tomáš Hertl, who ended the season with a 29-game goal drought, gave the Knights their first lead of the game off a nifty toe-drag play. The Knights have been nearly unbeatable since Hertl picked up his game in the second round.
Despite their backs being against the wall, with the season on the line, the Avalanche couldn’t muster any sort of positive momentum in the third. The ice was so tilted that Colorado went 14 minutes without a shot.
MacKinnon returned for his second shift of the period with the net empty, but Brett Howden was able to put the game away with his 10th of the playoffs.
It was the Knights’ first three-goal comeback in postseason history, putting the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche down 3-0 in the series.
Game 4 is on Tuesday, as the Avalanche look to avoid being swept.
