Robin Lehner made 31 saves to record his second shutout in three games and the Vegas Golden Knights claimed a 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Stanley Cup playoff series in Edmonton.
The Golden Knights will look to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series when they drop the puck for Game 4 Sunday night.
Alex Tuch and Zach Whitecloud netted first-period goals, while Mark Stone added the insurance marker early in the third period for the Golden Knights, who have claimed shutout victories in both wins in this series.
Lehner didn't have his busiest night, but he was key during the first period, especially midway through the frame by making big saves on Bo Horvat and Elias Pettersson during a Vancouver five-on-three power play.
The Canucks controlled the shot clock in the first period but it was the Golden Knights who did all the scoring, thanks to goals 83 seconds apart by Tuch and Whitecloud.
Tuch opened the scoring by exhibiting great speed. He zoomed passed the defenders to receive a breakaway pass from Nicolas Roy and buried the shot at the 4:05 mark for his seventh goal of the postseason, running his goal-scoring streak to four games.
Whitecloud doubled the lead on his team's next shot. After a glaring Canucks turnover, Max Pacioretty's shot from the slot was blocked, but the puck bounced to Whitecloud as he jumped in from the point. The rookie defenseman converted from near the right face-off dot for his second post-season goal.
Vancouver's comeback hopes were dashed early in the third period when Stone scored on the power play to make it 3-0. Stone gained the puck in the right circle and wired a top-shelf wrister just 139 seconds into the final period for his third goal in four games.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 31 shots for the Canucks, who failed to convert five power plays on the night and have a 1-for-11 record with the man advantage during the series.
The Canucks scored 11 power-play goals in 10 games during the qualifying and opening rounds.
--Field Level Media
Vegas | Vancouver | |
Mark Stone 1 | Points | N/A |
Mark Stone 1 | Goals | N/A |
Alec Martinez 1 | Assists | N/A |
Mark Stone 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Robin Lehner 1.000 | Save Percentage | Jacob Markstrom .912 |
Robin Lehner 31 | Saves | Jacob Markstrom 31 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Vegas | 34 | 3 | 1-4 | 5-5 | 10 | 28 |
Vancouver | 31 | 0 | 0-5 | 3-4 | 18 | 39 |