Golden Knights rally for win, grab 3-1 series lead

The sight of Marc-Andre Fleury and his gold pads in the crease for the first time in more than two weeks wasn’t an effective motivator for the Golden Knights during the first two periods Sunday.

But they backed their goaltender with an inspired effort in the third period.

The Knights scored three goals during a 5:37 span and put the Vancouver Canucks on the brink of elimination with a 5-3 victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinal series.

“I knew with (Fleury) in there tonight the guys would play hard for him,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “You could tell going into the third they were going to make a push, that they didn’t like the spot that they had put him in in the second period with some of the stuff we did.

“He’s such an important part of our group, and I think the effort the guys gave in a back-to-back situation, three in four nights, in the third period showed what they think of him.”

Left wing Max Pacioretty scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 12:58 remaining. Defenseman Nate Schmidt and center William Karlsson also scored in the third period to help the Knights overturn a 3-2 deficit.

The Knights lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can close out the Canucks on Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.

They improved to 3-2 when trailing after two periods and have outscored teams 17-5 in the third period during the postseason.

“We just feel that we have too much depth, especially on a back to back, to not come back and play for a full 60 minutes the way we know we’re capable of,” Pacioretty said. “And that could be the difference tonight.”

DeBoer opted to sit goalie Robin Lehner, who shut out the Canucks twice in the first three games, and started Fleury in the second game of the back to back.

Fleury hadn’t played since Game 3 of the conference quarterfinals Aug. 15 and made his first start since his agent tweeted, then deleted, a picture of the goalie being stabbed through the back by a sword inscribed with “DeBoer” on the blade.

“I felt those two weeks (off) early in the game,” Fleury said. “A little jittery, moving a little too much and stuff.”

But Fleury settled in and finished with 28 saves, including a lunging glove stop on Elias Pettersson in the second period. He improved to 13-2-2 in 17 lifetime appearances against the Canucks and hasn’t lost to Vancouver in regulation since Jan. 16, 2006.

The victory was Fleury’s 81st of his career in the postseason, moving the three-time Stanley Cup champion past Ken Dryden into sixth on the all-time list.

Fleury helped the Knights kill off two Jonathan Marchessault penalties in the second period to keep Vancouver’s 3-2 lead from growing.

“They already had a couple goals on the power play and took the lead in the game,” Fleury said. “But from that point on, I thought our guys battled real hard and played real well in front of me, kept the puck out, got some clears. My last outing in the third period, they played awesome, too. It was fun to watch.”

Pacioretty finished with three points, and Schmidt had a goal and an assist. Mark Stone and Shea Theodore each chipped in with two assists.

Defenseman Jon Merrill had an assist in his postseason debut in place of Nick Holden for the Knights, who roughed up 5-foot-10-inch, 170-pound Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes in the first period.

Pacioretty and Pettersson traded power-play goals before Chandler Stephenson atoned for an earlier penalty when he took a return pass from Theodore on the rush and beat Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom with a one-timer at 13:19.

The play started in the Knights’ zone with a heavy check dished out by Knights forward Ryan Reaves on Hughes, one of Reaves’ four hits in the period.

Vancouver coach Travis Green exchanged words with Reaves while the two were on their respective benches, and replays showed the chirping ended with Reaves calling Green a “baby.”

But the Canucks responded in the second period with two goals by Bo Horvat and Tyler Toffoli to take a 3-2 advantage.

“When you head into the third period, I think guys weren’t happy with how we played the first 10 minutes of the second,” Schmidt said. “The message was, it was more if we get to our game here, we’re going to be able to get one and help (Fleury) get into the win category.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.