Golden again: Vegas emerges with series lead

Fleury shines again and Marchessault scores twice in win over Winnipeg

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals — including an empty-netter in the closing seconds — to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3 of the Western Conference final on Wednesday night.

Vegas took a 2-1 series lead and is now two wins from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights improved to 5-1 at home in the playoffs, and host Game 4 on Friday night.

James Neal and Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 shots.

Mark Scheifele scored both of Winnipeg’s goals and has a playoffleading 14 goals in 15 post-season games.

Connor Hellebuyck had 26 saves for the Jets, who arrived in Vegas having outscored their opposition 23-15 in road games during this year’s post-season.

Marchessault scored his seventh goal of the playoffs just 35 seconds into the game as he took a pass from Brayden McNabb and slipped the puck past Hellebuyck, giving the Golden Knights an early 1-0 lead.

Scheifele tied it with a doubledeflection off his stick and calf that went past Fleury.

But 12 seconds later, Neal had an answer when Hellebuyck misplayed the puck behind his net and Erik Haula dished a perfect pass, giving the Knights a 2-1 lead.

Tuch notched his fifth goal of the playoffs to push the lead to 3-1 after Neal fed him with a nifty pass from behind the net.

Scheifele netted his second goal of the game just 18 seconds into the third period to cut Vegas’ lead to one, but Winnipeg couldn’t overcome the Golden Knights’ speed and execution, despite outplaying the hosts over the final 20 minutes.

Fleury, who bounced back after a loss in Game 1 to stop 30 of 31 shots in Game 2, made several huge saves late in the game to preserve Vegas’ lead. After stonewalling Tyler Myers’ breakaway attempt with 11:50 left in the game, he stymied Scheifele’s back-to-back shot with 9:30 remaining.

Less than two minutes later, Fleury smothered the puck with a slew of players piled near the crease.

Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck with 1:03 remaining in regulation, but Marchessault’s empty-netter with three seconds left sealed the win.

Winnipeg hadn’t lost back-to-back games during the playoffs or two in a row since March 13.

The Associated Press Vegas Golden Knights centre Jonathan Marchessault scores past Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck during the first period of Game 3 of their NHL Western Conference final on Wednesday in Las Vegas.The Golden Knights won 4-2.