Vegas Golden Knights outlast Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Shea Theodore was credited with a goal at 5:38 of the second overtime, avoiding what could have been a potentially devastating loss for the Golden Knights after they blew a four-goal lead, and Vegas defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Vegas took a 2-1 series lead after Theodore's shot was gathered by Carolina forward Jordan Martinook, who banked it in off goaltender Brandon Bussi's skate. Since Theodore was the last Golden Knight to touch the puck, he was awarded the goal.

«At that point, you are just trying to get anything to the net and hope you get a bounce,» Theodore said. «And luckily, we got one.»

It came long after Vegas star forward Mitch Marner had the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, helping his team to a 4-0 second-period lead.

The teams will take two days off before meeting in Game 4 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Teams that take a 2-1 series lead in the final went on to win the Cup 46 of 57 times (80.7%).

Carolina had been 6-0 in overtime this postseason. The Hurricanes were trying to become the first team to win after trailing by at least four goals in the third period, but now clubs in that situation are 0-109.

«We just left our foot off the gas,» Theodore told ESPN's Emily Kaplan in his postgame, on-ice interview. «I think we have to be sharper in the third [period], but I liked the resiliency out of our group. I liked the way we started that second overtime, and I felt like we were more on our toes.»

This was the 10th time that the first three games of a Cup Final were decided by a point. The last time was in 2016, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks.

The Golden Knights seemed to have the contest in hand