Golden Knights complete improbable comeback against Avalanche in Game 3 of West Final

LAS VEGAS -- Here in the city where spectacular rules, we present the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

With apologies to the No Doubt show at the nearby Sphere or the BTS concert across Interstate 15 at Allegiant Stadium, what possibly could have been more entertaining than what took place at T-Mobile Arena?

You want drama? You want plot twists? You want heroes?

Game 3 of the Western Conference Final was all that.

And more.

And when it was over, when the Golden Knights had completed one of the greatest comebacks in franchise history, coach John Tortorella, never one to mince words, certainly wasn’t about to do it this time.

“This was a game where we showed some (guts),” he said after Vegas’ 5-3 victory, an outcome that had seemed so improbable just a couple of hours earlier. “And I want them to feel it for a little bit, as far as what they did against a really good hockey club.”

What they did, to be specific, was erase a 3-0 first period deficit against the Colorado Avalanche, a team that won the Presidents' Trophy for finishing first in the NHL standings with 121 points (55-16-11). It was the first time in Vegas' postseason history that the Golden Knights won a game in which they’d trailed by three or more goals, having previously gone 0-19 in those situations.

That ended on this night.

And because of it, the Golden Knights now lead this best-of-7 series 3-0 and have the chance to pull off the sweep with a victory in Game 4 here at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

To put some perspective on the dire straights the Avalanche find themselves in: The only four teams in NHL history to have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-7 series ]are the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

Certainly, when the Avalanche went to the dressing room up 3-0 in the first intermission, never in their wildest dreams would they have thought they’d be mentioned with those four teams.

After surrendering five consecutive goals to the Golden Knights, they are now.

For Tortorella and his players, it was just another layer to what was a memorable game.

When asked how special his team’s performance was, Tortorella replied: “Yeah. A conference final. Not sure if I’ve ever (coached) one like this. I’ve been in a few of them. 

“But yeah. Two good teams going at it. And again, I’m proud of our club.”

He had reason to be, albeit not so much in the first period, when goals by Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and Jack Drury put Vegas three goals behind.

But there was no panic in the Golden Knights' dressing room during the intermission despite facing a significant uphill climb on the scoreboard. This is a team that has said it has had a quiet swagger since Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach on March 29, and they weren’t about to lose that confidence now.

“We came back in here and just kind of regrouped,” said forward Mitch Marner, who now leads all playoff scorers with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) after collecting a pair of helpers in Game 3. “We talked about just how we had a lot of game left to play, to just be ready to go for the second and third, and make sure we bring our best.”

Then they went out on the ice and practiced what they preached.

Just 19 seconds into the second period, Marner set up captain Mark Stone for a power-play goal that narrowed the Colorado lead to 3-1. It was Stone’s first game back after missing the previous five with a lower-body injury, and his impact was immediate.

Less than four minutes later, forward William Karlsson brought the Golden Knights to within a goal at 4:05. For Karlsson, who missed the majority of the regular season with a lower-body injury, it was his first goal since Oct. 26. 

At 12:46, it was the rough and tumble Keegan Kolesar, hardly known for his offensive exploits, who tied the game 3-3. It was just Kolesar’s fourth postseason goal in 71 career playoff games.

It couldn’t have come at a better time for the Golden Knights.

But for Vegas, on this night of many heroes, the best was still yet to come.

It came via forward Tomas Hertl, who had recently endured a 29-game goal drought stretching back into the regular season. He snapped that dubious streak by scoring in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks, then added another in Game 5.

But nothing as splashy, as riveting, as theatrical as this one.

Midway through the third period, Hertl was flying down the left wing when he took a pass from Stone. He bore down on Sam Malinski before turning the Avalanche defenseman inside out, then fired a backhand shot past goalie Scott Wedgewood to put Vegas up 4-3 at 8:21.

Did we mention the word, spectacular?

To be fair, Karlsson gave the goal an 8.5 out of 10. What would it take for him to hand out a perfect 10?

“Maybe a spin-o-rama?” he said with a laugh.

Only in Vegas are the standards for spectacular that high.

“Hopefully I’m done with the scoring slumps,” Hertl said with a chuckle, adding, “I was really happy about it (the goal).”

Brett Howden then sealed the deal with an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final with 59 seconds left in regulation.

“We just care about winning the games,” Hertl said. “And that’s why this room is so much fun to play with. I think that’s why we came back, because we believe in every single guy.”

Here’s more reason for Vegas to believe.

Prior to Game 3, the Avalanche had gone 52-0-0 in games this season (regular season and playoffs) in which they had a multigoal lead.

On Sunday, the Golden Knights spoiled that streak in dramatic fashion.

And with one more victory, they’ll do the same to Colorado’s Stanley Cup aspirations.