Capitals best Golden Knights 3-1 in Game 3

The Washington Capitals won their second straight game Saturday beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1, giving them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals.

Neither team scored in the opening period of Game 3. Both had their chances to score and each had one power-play opportunity.

But, Alex Ovechkin changed that at 1:10 in the second period when he dove for a rebound on a shot by John Carlson and hit a backhand past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury giving Washington a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Knights had a chance to tie it up less than five minutes later as Jonathan Marchessault maneuvered the puck through the legs of a defender only to have his wrist shot gloved by Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.

Then at 12:50 in the period, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored from the face-off circle during a two-on-one break, beating Fleury off the post giving Washington a 2-0 lead after two periods.

But, the Golden Knights tightened it up at 3:29 of the third period when Tomas Nosek punched the puck into a wide-open net as Holtby made a mistake trying to clear the puck from behind the net but it was deflected by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to Nosek. Vegas cut the deficit in half.

But, Washington would push the lead back to 2 goals when Devante Smith-Pelly scored at 13:53 and the would end 3-1, in favor of the Capitals.

Game 4 is Monday night in Washington.