GOLDEN KNIGHTS at SHARKS 10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS Best-of-7 series tied 1-1
SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights will each seek to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference Second Round series at SAP Center on Monday. RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Sharks series coverage] San Jose won Game 2 on Saturday, 4-3 in double-overtime. The Golden Knights won Game 1 on Thursday, 7-0. Here are 5 keys for Game 3:
1. Handling adversity
The Sharks responded in Game 2 following their first loss of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now the Golden Knights will try to do the same after seeing their five-game winning streak to open the playoffs end in Game 2. Vegas will play its first road game of the series. "They're a tough team to play against at home," Golden Knights forward James Neal said. "We got to be ready for a hostile building. We'll be ready to go. There's nothing better than silencing 17 and 18,000 people."
2. Sharks aggressive defense
After giving up multiple odd-man rushes and struggling to slow down the speedy Golden Knights in Game 1, the Sharks regained their identity as a strong defensive team in Game 2. "When we're playing well, we're limiting time and space and taking away room that the other team has to operate," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "Game 1, that got away from us. We gave them too much room and got burned for it, so we got it fixed."
3. Staying out of penalty trouble
The Sharks went 2-for-7 on the power play in Game 2, including in overtime when Logan Couture scored with Vegas defenseman Jon Merrill in the penalty box for hooking. The Golden Knights took 11 penalties to six for San Jose. Vegas went 0-for-2 on the power play.
"They have a really good power play, so we can't let them capitalize on that," Vegas forward Alex Tuch said. "We're stressing that."
4. Lineup changes
Sharks first-line forward Evander Kane will return after serving a one-game suspension for cross-checking Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare late in the third period of Game 1, but top-line forward Joonas Donskoi is out with a lower-body injury. Chris Tierney will move from the third to the top line and skate between Kane and Pavelski, who will move from center to right wing. Barclay Goodrow will center the third line. "We've played a couple periods together since I've been here," Kane said. "[Tierney] does a really good job of facilitating the puck to his wingers and has some good patience up the middle."
5. Fleury vs. Jones
Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury gave up four goals in Game, 2, one more than he allowed in his first five playoff games combined.
The Golden Knights scored five goals on 13 shots against Martin Jones in Game 1, one more than he allowed in a first-round sweep of the Anaheim Ducks. Neither goaltender appears to be as invincible as he did when the series began. "He's one of those goalies, the longer he goes feeling good, the better he probably gets," Pavelski said of Fleury. "You saw when we got that first one, it gave our group confidence we could get to him. We just created a lot more dangerous opportunities."
Tatar will be in the lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. He is expected to replace former Sharks forward Ryan Carpenter. ... Thornton, who skated on his own, will not play.
