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Fleury's devastating late-game blunder gives Canadiens new life in Game 3

Oh no Marc-Andre Fleury, what have you done?

With less than two minutes remaining in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup semifinal and the Vegas Golden Knights convincingly leading 2-1 against the Montreal Canadiens, the goaltender left his crease and went behind his net to meet the puck.

What happened next is surely not what Fleury had in mind.

Yikes.

Despite having ample time to make a play, Fleury fumbled the puck off his stick and into his skates, kicking it out front to Canadiens forward Josh Anderson who buried it into a wide open net, tying the game 2-2 with just 1:55 left in regulation and sending it to overtime.

The blunder was utterly disheartening for Vegas, who’d been dominating the game for its entirety. At the end of regulation, the Golden Knights held a 40-21 shot advantage over the Habs. Goaltender Carey Price, who’s been near-perfect, was the only reason why the Canadiens were still in the game.

If there was any member of Montreal that was in need of a lucky bounce, it was Anderson. Prior to this game, the 27-year-old hadn’t scored a goal or recorded a point since Game 1 of the team’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As fate would have it, Fleury’s crucial giveaway seemed to wake Anderson up, as the forward also went on to score the game-winner in overtime, giving Montreal a 2-1 series lead after the Habs got completely worked by Vegas in Game 3.

There really was no other way for this to end, was there?

Marc-Andre Fleury made a devastating blunder with under two minutes left in regulation to give the Habs new life in Game 3. (Twitter/BradyTrett)
Marc-Andre Fleury made a devastating blunder with under two minutes left in regulation to give the Habs new life in Game 3. (Twitter/BradyTrett)

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