The Vegas Golden Knights pulled together to win both game three and four at home against the Colorado Avalanche to tie their second round series. Vegas lost the first two games in Colorado, but are back in business now.
Jonathan Marchessault earned his fourth career hat trick to lead Vegas to a 5-1 victory.
"If we win as a group, it's the most important thing," Marchessault said. "And we've proven we can play with the best team in the league. We're on a mission right now. We just have to keep going and focus on Game 5."
Max Pacioretty and Patrick Brown also scored goals for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves for his 87th career playoff victory. He is one win shy of tying Ed Belfour and Billy Smith for fourth on the all-time list.
The game was played in front of a full capacity crowd of 18,081 guests at T-Mobile Arena - the largest crowd to attend an NHL game this season. The fans made their presence known, forcing coaches to strain their voices by just talking to their bench.
Vegas has outscored Colorado 9-4 since the start of the second period in Game 2, and outshot the Avalanche 110-52 since the first period of the same game.
After Brandon Saad gave Colorado a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the first period, the Golden Knights dominated the remainder of the game.
"I think we gave 'em a little bit too much respect," Stone said. "Obviously in Game 1, we kind of sat back, we just kind of dipped our toe. I think after the first period in Game 2, we realized we could play with these guys."
Philipp Grubauer, who came in with a .941 playoff save percentage, stopped 30 shots for the Avalanche.
For the game, Vegas held a 26-17 edge on shot attempts, a 27-13 advantage with scoring chances, and a 17-5 lead with high-danger chances.
"It was nice to score some goals tonight,” Vegas Head Coach Peter DeBoer said. “I think our group got rewarded for keeping the relentless pressure on Colorado that I think we've been putting on them for three games, both physically and with the puck. We've just got to continue to do that and hope we stick enough pucks to the net every night to win.”
Game 5 is Tuesday night at Colorado, where the Avalanche have yet to lose a playoff game and were 24-4-2 during the regular season. The Golden Knights handed the Avalanche two of their six home losses this season.
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