Gaffe by Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury lets Montreal take lead in series

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 semifinal series.

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.

Anderson’s first goal came after a stickhandling error by Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the final two minutes of regulation. Fleury misplayed a puck behind his net and gifted Anderson the tying goal with 1:55 remaining.

Cole Caufield also scored to help Montreal win without interim head coach Dominique Ducharme. He tested positive for covid-19 before the game.

Luke Richardson took over behind and directed the Canadiens to their fourth overtime victory in these playoffs.

Nicolas Roy and Alex Pietrangelo scored for Vegas, and 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.