Montreal’s Josh Anderson scores the winning goal past Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 win Friday in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP
MONTREAL — Josh Anderson scored his second goal of the night at 12:53 of overtime, Carey Price made 43 saves and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Friday night to a take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals.
Anderson scored after he knocked down an aerial pass at the offensive blue line. The puck fell to Paul Byron, who passed back to Anderson for his third goal of the playoffs, sending the Bell Centre into a chaotic celebration.
Cole Caufield also scored to help Montreal win without interim head coach Dominique Ducharme, who tested positive for COVID-19 before the game.
Assistant coach Luke Richardson took over and directed the Canadiens to their fourth overtime victory in these playoffs.
Nicolas Roy and Alex Pietrangelo scored for Vegas, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots.
Game 4 is Sunday night in Montreal.
After the Golden Knights killed off a penalty to start the third, Pietrangelo fired his fourth goal of the playoffs – and third in the last two games – under Price’s blocker from the high slot on an odd-man rush at 2:22.
The Montreal goaltender kept his team within striking distance a few minutes later, robbing Alex Tuch with a terrific pad stop on a 2-on-1 with former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty before Corey Perry came close at the other end.
Fleury then made another stop on Tyler Toffoli with five minutes left, but misplayed the puck behind his net and gifted Anderson the tying goal with 1:55 remaining.
SELKE TROPHY: Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward for the first time in his eight-year career.
Barkov was announced as the winner of the award Friday night before Vegas faced Montreal in Game 3 of their semifinal series. He was a finalist for the first time.
The 25-year-old Finn became just the fifth player in league history to win both the Selke and the Lady Byng for gentlemanly conduct. He won the Lady Byng in 2019.
Boston center Patrice Bergeron and Vegas winger Mark Stone were the other finalists for the Selke, which is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
ADAMS AWARD: Rod Brind’Amour never worried much about being able to reach a deal to remain coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. “It was just a matter of time, really,” Brind’Amour said as the team announced a three-year contract extension.
Hours later, Brind’Amour won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year for guiding the Hurricanes to a third consecutive playoff appearance and finishing first in the Central Division. The extension and accolades come a little over a week since Carolina was eliminated by reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay in the second round.
The 50-year-old Brind’Amour’s previous contract ran through this season, though the captain of Carolina’s 2006 Cup winner and owner Tom Dundon had made public comments in recent months indicating they expected to reach an agreement – with Brind’Amour saying in early May: “Everybody knows I’m a Hurricane.”
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