LAS VEGAS _ In a season full of firsts, the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday again experienced something new. But this time it wasn't a joyful event: They lost a Stanley Cup playoff game, and in double overtime.
San Jose forward Logan Couture scored a power-play goal five minutes and 13 seconds into the second sudden-death overtime at a pulsating T-Mobile Arena, beating goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury high and to the short side, to give the Sharks a 4-3 victory and balance the teams' second-round playoff series at one game each. Games 3 and 4 will be played in San Jose on Monday and Wednesday.
The Golden Knights had swept past the Kings in the first round and routed the Sharks on Thursday.
Fleury made 43 saves in the losing effort and was helpless when Couture cleverly held on to the puck and rifled a shot just past the goalie's stick while Vegas defenseman Jon Merrill served a needless hooking penalty _ the Golden Knights' second bad penalty of the second overtime session.
The Sharks showed great resilience in coming back after squandering a 3-2 lead Saturday and now will benefit from the support of their frenzied fans in the next two games.
Fleury made 39 saves through 60 minutes of regulation time and the first 20 minutes of sudden-death play. He made a point-blank stop on Barclay Goodrow after a giveaway by Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore, and had the presence of mind to poke-check the puck away from Joe Pavelski as the San Jose center tried to go to his backhand in the first overtime period.
Later, Fleury made a save on Timo Meier on which the puck popped up in the air and he batted it with his stick into his glove. Even he had to smile at that one, his pearly white teeth gleaming through his mask while TV cameras zoomed in on him during the ensuing stoppage in play.
An apparent goal by Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault at 16:58 of the first overtime was waved off after a review by the Situation Room in Toronto determined Marchessault had made contact with San Jose goalie Martin Jones to prevent Jones from making the save.
The Sharks responded strongly Saturday after having been flattened on Thursday. They even withstood a fortunate first goal by Vegas, after a giveaway by Sharks defenseman Brent Burns allowed the Golden Knights to maintain possession of the puck.
William Karlsson pounced on Burns' mistake and controlled the puck along the right-wing boards before he passed it back to Nate Schmidt. The defenseman made a cross-ice pass to Colin Miller, who was a few strides in from the right point. Miller's shot caromed off the boards behind the net and came out the other side, where Karlsson shot from a sharp angle and beat Jones at 17:59.
Karlsson extended Vegas' lead during the first shift of the second period. Again, a defensive mistake was costly for the Sharks. This time, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was trying to clear the puck out of the zone but Reilly Smith got a piece of it and got the puck to Karlsson, whose quick shot from the right side probably should have been stopped by Jones but got past the goalie 26 seconds into the period.
The Sharks took advantage of a penalty on David Perron to cut Vegas' lead to 2-1. Pavelski won the faceoff and got the puck back to Burns, whose long shot appeared to hit someone in the maze of bodies in the slot before the puck skipped past Fleury at the two-minute mark. That ended Fleury's shutout streak at 144 minutes and four seconds, going back to Game 4 of the first round against the Kings.
The teams were skating four-on-four following a tussle between Marchessault and Vlasic when the Sharks pulled even. After Fleury carelessly mishandled the puck while trying to give it to one of his defensemen _ and not for the first time in this game _ Tomas Hertl dug the puck out deep on the left side and made a perfect pass to Couture, whose one-timer sailed into the upper-right corner of the net at 11:08.
Burns figured in the action prominently and walked in from the right point, skated behind the net and wrapped the puck inside the left post for a 3-2 San Jose lead at 14:07 of the second period.
The Golden Knights challenged the play on the basis that Fleury had been a victim of goaltender interference, but replays showed that Vegas' Miller had pushed Meier into the goalie and left Fleury unable to move quickly enough to his right to stop Burns' shot.
The Golden Knights got a fortunate deflection to tie the game at 3-3 at 13:28 of the third period. Schmidt's blast from the blue line, set up after Perron won a faceoff in San Jose's defensive zone, deflected off a Shark before eluding Jones and bringing the teams even.
Couture gave the crowd of 18,671 its first taste of playoff defeat and gave the Sharks new life as they prepared to head home.
