Golden Knights rally in third period, defeat Avalanche in Game 3

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights rallied to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

Vegas scored twice in 45 seconds in the third period to take the lead.
Jonathan Marchessault tied it 2-2 at 14:42 when he banked his attempt off goalie Philipp Grubauer from below the goal line. Max Pacioretty made it 3-2 at 15:27 on a deflection from Nick Holden's shot from the point.
"You know you get that first goal you just have a feeling the next one's going to come," Pacioretty said. "So that floater comes in from [Holden], you just have a little bit more confidence that you're going to tip it, and that's how it played out."
William Karlsson scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves for the Golden Knights, the No. 2 seed in the Honda West Division.
Mikko Rantanen scored for a fourth straight game, and Grubauer made 40 saves for the Avalanche, the No. 1 seed who lost in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time this season (6-1).

Colorado leads the best-of-7 series with Game 4 here Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).
Vegas outshot Colorado 14-3 in the first period and 43-20 in the game, and 41-25 in Game 2, including 31-12 in the second and third periods in a 3-2 overtime win by Colorado.
"I mean, for five periods straight now they've been far more competitive than we have, and to dissect the game any further than that is a waste of time," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.
Karlsson scored at 4:38 of the second period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead, their first of the series, when he kicked the puck to himself after Grubauer saved Alex Pietrangelo's shot from the point and scored with a backhand.
Carl Soderberg tied it 1-1 1:29 later on the rebound from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare's shot from the left circle.
Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 5:04 of the third period on the power play with a shot from above the right circle to extend his playoff point streak to 17 games. The goal came eight seconds after Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy was called for hooking.
"We knew they were going to come in the last 10 minutes, and that's what they did," Rantanen said. "I think just a couple mistakes we made, and that's going to cost you against a good team like Vegas. There's no moment you can fall asleep. [Grubauer] played amazing again, but we can't rely on him making 50 saves every night."

Rantanen had a chance to tie it with 46 seconds left when he tried to go five-hole from alone in the right circle, but Fleury made the save.
"I had a chance to redeem myself there. That was close," Fleury said. "He looked up like he was coming higher and squeaked it five-hole. Lucky enough to make a play on it."
It was the NHL's first full-capacity crowd this season at 17,504 fans.
"Once we got that second goal, momentum shifted," Vegas captain Mark Stone said. "That's the loudest I've heard a building in quite some time."
NOTES:The Avalanche are the 18th team Fleury has defeated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, passing Dominik Hasek for second most in NHL history behind Patrick Roy (20). … Colorado failed to become the fourth team to win its first seven games of a postseason since 1987, when all series became best-of-7 (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2008; New York Rangers, 1994; Montreal Canadiens, 1989). ... Pacioretty's goal was the latest go-ahead goal in Golden Knights playoff history (57 games). … Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves served the second of a two-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct against Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves in the third period of Game 1. … Avalanche forward Brandon Saad had his five-game goal streak end. … Rantanen extended his point streak to seven games (four goals, seven assists) this postseason. … Grubauer had won 10 consecutive playoff games, dating to last season. … Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar had an assist to extend his point streak to four games (one goal, six assists). … Each team had 50 hits, with Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog making a game-high seven.